Friday, December 12, 2014

I didn't leave the Republican Party. The Republican Party left me.

Okay. Let's get this straight.

For 5 years (2009 - 2014) the GOP said "Oh, we just don't have enough influence to do anything." At first there was some truth to that- minorities in both houses of Congress, and a Dem President will do that. Even so, they seemed unwilling to use what influence they did have, because the MFM would call them big meanies. 

Porkuluous passed with nary a word.  ObamaCare could have been derailed at any of several points, but Republicans wouldn't.  At one point it could have been killed in committee.  At any number of points it could have been killed by a single Republican refusing "unanimous consent" to skip the reading of the bill (or the various amendments). 

Then Scott Brown was elected as the "41st Vote Against ObamaCare."  All Republicans had to do to kill it was keep the debate moving until he could be sat.  Instead, they allowed it to be passed because they didn't want to work over Christmas.

Then, 2010, we handed them the House. With which they immediately preceded to do... nothing much. "1/2 of 1/3 of Government!" we were told. "Oh, a Shutdown would ruin our chances in 2014!" we were told. (Hmm... almost as if winning elections were more important to them than doing the right thing)

Did they even pass a budget?  No.  "Oh, it will just get stopped in the Senate."  So Continuing Resolution after Continuing Resolution passed.  Did they stop raising the debt ceiling, or even get some kind of real budget cut in return for raising it?  No.  In fact, they ceded that power to the President, just so no one would ask them to do something scary like vote on it again.

So in 2012 (after 2 years of them doing nothing, and with a candidate who couldn't/wouldn't take on TFG) we let them maintain their control of the house. For another 2 years they proceeded to do... not much. 

Admittedly, after Mitt Romney's loss in 2012, they were a somewhat reduced party.  Lots of soul-searching had to be done.  But they still had chances.  The shut down was the most intestinal fortitude any Republican had shown in years, and the leadership fell over themselves to end it, and give up yet more concessions in the process.  Only their (stated, though not acted upon) opposition to ObamaCare saved them.

Now in 2014 we have given them majorities in both houses of Congress. So rather than stall until the new congress can be sat of course they rush to pass a bill which takes away almost all of the influence they would be able to wield for nearly half (and really more than that, considering we'll be spinning up for 2016 at the end of 2015) of the next Congressional term.

Why should I ever vote Republican (for national office) again?

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

On Natural Rights

What to write about?

I could write about the Rolling Stone UVA story, but why? At this point, Rolling Stone and “Jackie” have about as much credibility as an unemployed man with a 480 FICO score.

I could write about the riots over the Michael Brown and Eric Garner Grand Jury decisions, but, again, why? Pretty well everything has been said. People made up their minds before the evidence was in; they’re not changing them now.

I could write about CrOmnibus- the Republicans trying to sell out Conservatives once again. I could write about the Use of Force authorization that the SCOAMT wants, but won’t specify exactly what he wants. Sorry, Barry, no blank checks.

With all that’s going on in the news, maybe we need to get back to first principles. Maybe we need to consider why we’re conservative in the first place. It’s always a good idea to review why you believe what you believe from time to time.

So with that, I’ll consider the second* of the first principles: Natural Rights.

 

What are Natural Rights?

Natural Rights are those things (really the only Rights at all) that every human being possesses simply by virtue of being human. No government can grant or remove them. No one has more of them than any other person. Simply being human grants these rights. In many ways, they are simply laws of nature- like gravity or entropy. But, being laws of Human Nature, we often fight against them in various ways.

The Natural Rights are generally summed up as “Life, Liberty, and Property.” Some guy who was really smart in other ways nevertheless screwed the pooch and changed that last one to “pursuit of Happiness” in our Declaration of Independence. We can forgive him that, I guess, though that wording has cause great harm.

Each right really deserves its own post, and may get one, but they deserve a little bit of illumination here.

The Right to Life is perhaps more specifically “the Right to sustain and protect one’s life.” The Right to Life includes things like the right to self-defense and the right to bear arms. It includes the right to feed one’s self (which is a bigger thing than you might think).

It really should not be mistaken for a reverence for life. While I am pro-life when it comes to the abortion argument, it is not because of my belief in the Right to Life. Here, a baby has no more “right to life” than a man being eaten by a bear. Less, in fact, simply by the fact that the man being eaten by the bear has some chance of defending himself. He can be his own agent of life protection and sustenance.

The Right to Liberty is both the “right to be left alone” and the “right to do as you please.” From it we derive things like the freedom of the press, the right to assemble, and the right to work.

The Right to Property is the right to accumulate property. It includes the right to purchase and own a home, as well as the right to build wealth.

 

Why are natural rights important?

A belief in God is the foundation of the United States of America (if you don’t believe that, go re-read your history). The Natural Rights are the pillars standing on that foundation holding the rest of the structure up. All of the Constitutionally protected (not granted) rights are either direct applications of, or logical derivations of Natural Rights. I mentioned some in the previous section. The Right to Life is the one where we derive the Second Amendment, for example. The prohibitions against double-jeopardy and bills of attainder also have roots in the Right to Life. The Right to Property is where we derive things like the 3rd and 4th amendments.

Natural Rights are also important because if you do not realize from where your rights come, you might agree to any sort of nonsense. If Rights are not Natural, then they must be granted by some agency. If some agency grants them, then that same agency can rescind them. If they can be rescinded, then they are not “rights” at all.

I said previously that no government can either grant or deny the Natural Rights. No matter how restrictive the regime, no matter how devoted to Communism and/or oppression, you cannot be deprived of your Right to Life, Liberty, and Property. The exercise of those rights can be legally forbidden and therefore punished, but the rights themselves exist and you retain them fully.

That may seem trivial. What good is having a Right to Property if exercising it is going to get you imprisoned and all your stuff confiscated? But it is just the fact that people lost sight of the Right to Property that caused them to agree to stop exercising it. Communism cannot exist if the People remember their Natural Rights and vigorously defend them.

One example that might seem trivial. My brother (sorry, bro, but it highlights the point) and I were talking at Thanksgiving, and he mentioned a device had been invented which could be added to a circular saw (or table saw, or maybe either) which would sense when your finger came too close to the blade and stop the blade nearly instantly. He further asserted that this device would add only pennies to the cost of a saw, and expressed disbelief that people making saws were fighting a regulation which would mandate the use of this device.

But, of course, if you really believe in the Natural Right of Liberty, you immediately see why such a mandate should be prohibited. My Right of Liberty says that I can do what I want. Maybe I want to add this safety device to *some* saws and charge a higher price. Maybe I know that some people have uses for circular and table saws which would be interfered with by this device, so I want to continue making them without it. Maybe I just don’t want to add the device to the saws I make. Why should it be the government’s business?

And so we come to the end of this primer on Natural Rights. It is our belief in these Rights which lead first to the Declaration of Independence, and then the Constitution. Our continued belief in them is what motivates the various Tea Party organizations. It is why Conservatives are so upset with Boehner’s CrOmnibus. Belief in the Natural Rights is why we side with Darren Wilson and George Zimmerman over Michael Brown and Trayvon Martin. Our commitment to them is why false charges of rape such as those made by Rolling Stone are met with such condemnation. It is why we oppose rioting for any reason.

*-Yep the 2nd. As alluded to, the first First Principle is a belief in God. All the founders where Christians of one sort or another.

Friday, November 21, 2014

Yeah, What He Said

Here, go read this.

It says something I've been thinking- and even saying- for the last week or so.

Let's set aside all the problems with Emperor Obama's Amnesty.  Let's pretend he did something I liked.  I dunno- an across the board tax cut, just to pick something.

That makes it no less wrong.  That makes it no less evil.  Barack Obama is not an Emperor- or, he's not supposed to be.  He is a President.  Our Founders sought for just the right term for the Chief Executive of our Nation for some time before settling on "President."  He "presides."  He is supposed to "faithfully execute" the law, see that it is Justly applied to all.

But note that he is precisely operating as an Emperor.  Even if he were going to simply ignore immigration law, that would be one (very, very bad) thing.  But it would be equally applied to all.  Instead, he enacted- by executive fiat- new law.  He did not simply say, "I'm just ignoring immigration law," his plan has requirements and prerequisites which must be met.  That's not "details about the execution of a law."  That's not "discretion."  That's authoring new law.

And the Legislature will let this stand.  The Republicans will do nothing because there's nothing they can do.  All the talk of defunding the government or shutting it down?  It won't stop this amnesty.  It won't stop an Imperial President.  Not confirming presidential appointees?  For one thing, no one will really notice that.  For another, that *also* won't stop the amnesty.

There is only one remedy- the Constitutional remedy: impeachment.  And Republicans will not do that, because the Democrats will not do that.  Democrats have welded themselves to the SCOAMT.  They hitched their wagons to him in 2008, and now it's too late.  If they turn on him now, they lose *both* the black and hispanic vote.  At least, that's their fear, and it's not entirely irrational.

Absent some real action from the Legislature- a united legislature looking to preserve the great Republic our Founders created- we have just witnessed the end of the American Experiment.

The Protection Racket

For the record, let's state that what the SCOAMT did last night was tantamount to an imperial takeover.  Apparently, now, the President and not the Legislature or even Judiciary is the arbiter of what is and is not law.

I wish I could say I was surprised.  I am outraged.  But in a sense that's like being outraged at a scorpion for stinging.  I do not believe that his character would allow him to do anything else than what he did.  Malignant Narcissism is *going* to assert its power, especially after being told it's not so powerful after all.

However, I do have more outrage for the Media.  The MFM consensus seems to be this: "Barack Obama is protecting illegals."  Yes, that is their word of choice: "protecting."  It's odd to me that they would discuss the decision not to see justice done against law-breakers as "protecting."

Would they be so sanguine if he "protected" thieves in the same way?  Murders, arsonists, identity thieves, or even dead-beat dads?

Let's say the President had said this:  "Too many Americans must live in the shadows.  Their situation requires that they live outside our normal bounds of law, but it is not their fault.  Society and their history have forced them into these shadows.  It is their poverty, their lack of education, and their lack of opportunities- a lack reinforced by law and custom- which causes them to live on the outside.  So tonight I am declaring an amnesty for all thieves.  If not for their poverty and lack of other options, they would not steal your cars, your jewelry, or your money.  It is a failure of our system- a great moral failure- to hold them accountable for their past deeds.  So I am now offering complete amnesty for any past crimes and wiping the slate clean."

Would the MFM be speaking glowingly of him "protecting" the thieves?

Yet that is just what he has done.  Illegal aliens break laws all the time.  Setting aside the ones we might normally classify as "criminal"- those who have committed heinous crimes- even the most benign routinely commit fraud and identity theft.  They drive illegally and have no insurance- and they don't drive particularly well.  The most "deserving" illegal alien broke the law first by coming across our border illegally, and then repeatedly breaks the law any time they work, receive welfare benefits, or drive.

And what of those here legally?  What of low-income, low-skilled legal aliens or citizens?  It is they who will see most of the negative effects of this.  They are the ones who will face additional competition for already low-wage jobs.  It is they who will have to face waiting rooms- for Doctors who accept Medicaid, and for Hospital Emergency Rooms- filled to overflowing, even more than now, with the children of illegals.  It is these in our society- those most already in need of "protection" who the President just threw to the wolves.

Then we consider legal aliens, especially naturalized citizens.  If this is anything other than a strongly-expended middle digit toward them, I can't see what.  Legal aliens jumped through numerous hoops- even those on temporary visas.  They pay high fees for their residency.  They know that one misstep in regards to our laws- even one relatively benign- can get them sent back to their country of origin with no chance of ever returning legally.  Those who seek naturalization wait years and pay astronomical fees to do so.

Yet now they look at what this President has just done, and realize their foolishness.  Why obey the law, why pay all those fees?  They could have just come illegally and been saved all of that.

Yet it is the illegals who are being "protected."

Monday, November 17, 2014

Lamentations of Their Women:

CNN Cries over GOP Wave


So, continuing the leftist post-election trend going back to at least 2000 in Florida, CNN has decided that the only way the GOP won this election was through cheating.  How?  By violating campaign finance laws, in spirit if not in fact.

Their logic goes something like this: Campaign finance laws forbid specific candidate campaigns from coordinating with super-PACs and other non-candidate organizations.  "Someone" was tweeting what looked like poling data.  Since every Dick, Jane, and Harry wouldn't have been able to decode the tweet, it MUST be collusion.

Now they don't know who "Someone" was.  And by their own admission, they didn't find out before the accounts were deleted.  That would seem to be a hole in their case, but maybe that's just me.

Now, there are lots of problems with the whole article, so you should read it for yourself.  But I was taken by two things.  The first was the almost reflexive "they cheated!" reaction.

This article took some time to research.  The twitter accounts they reference were not widely known, so this wasn't something that was "general knowledge."  They had to have been looking for it.

Yet it is not Republicans who are known campaign finance law violators, unlike several prominent Democrats, the President among them (remember 2008 and not checking if donations were foreign?  Making a campaign speech on foreign soil?  Yeah- not legal.)

Projection, as they say, is not just a river in Egypt.

The other thing that I noticed was they spend a whole lot of time saying, basically, "Those wascawy Wepubwicans!  They used Twitter effectivwy! That must be iweagle!"  And then, for support they go to leftists.

Case in point, this quote:

"It might not be legal.  It's a cutting edge practice that, to my knowledge, the Federal Election Commission has never before addressed to explicitly determine its legality or permissibility."

That comes from one Paul S. Ryan, cited as "senior counsel at the Campaign Legal Center."

CNN references the Campaign Legal Center as "a nonpartisan organization," but, this being CNN, I figured I'd double-check their math.  If you follow that link above, it goes to the CLC's "Election Center."  Among their blurbs are "what the Court got wrong in [Citizen's United]," and bragging that their president played "an incredibly important role" as the "'personal lawyer' to comedian Stephen Colbert on Comedy Central's 'The Colbert Report.'"

Does anyone seriously think that a center which sees being the "personal lawyer" for the Colbert Report and opposing Citizen's United is "nonpartisan?"  Seriously?

But the best part of that quote might be the idea that the FEC should have to rule on whether something is "explicitly" legal.  Umm... that's not how the law works.  Something is legal unless it is "explicitly" illegal.  Murder?  Explicitly illegal.  We don't have to ask if any given killing is "explicitly" legal.  It is legal (assumed innocent) until it is proven to be illegal.

This is how leftists work.  Does anyone seriously think we'd be hearing anything about this if it had been Democrats and they had won an historic majority?

Perhaps the best part is the end of the article, wherein CNN acknowledges that, yes, this is probably legal.  I'll leave with that quote (emphasis mine):

Despite the questionable nature of the Twitter communications, experts doubt the FEC will do much to act. Members of the commission have been deadlocked along party lines for years and attorneys for these groups often develop legal arguments before engaging in such practices to avoid acting outside the bounds of the law, Ryan said. 
"In many instances, we have very sophisticated political players with really good lawyers who know where the legal lines are and know where to push them to their client's advantage," he said.

Thursday, August 7, 2014

Not the response they wanted

Dear Republican National Committee

Before I get to my response to the fundraising letter you sent me today, please go see the comments of the new House Majority Whip's new Communications Director
.
Oh, you might also want to go take a look at the emails you are sending.

Now on to the response.

I am not some low-information, uninvolved voter.  I assume you listed me as a registered Republican (more on this in a minute) because of a "citizens' congress" event I attended with Representative Joe Barton several years ago (he called me a better Lloyd Doggett than Lloyd Doggett- I'm still not sure if that was a compliment).  I maintain a political blog.  I have a fair idea of what is going on in my State, the country, and the world.

Further, I consider myself a "Tea Party" Conservative- note the word I did not use, that will be important later.  I believe in limited, fiscally sound government.  I believe that the Federal Government is supposed to be constrained by the Constitution- that it enumerated specific powers for the Federal Government and any which were not specifically enumerated were reserved to the People or the States.  I believe "that Government governs best which governs least."

Since 2008, I have seen nothing that would make me support the Republican National Party, and much that disgusts me about you.  People actively opposed to limiting government have leadership positions; those actively attempting to limit government are removed from leadership positions.  When you had several chances to stop Obamacare cold, you have continually refused to take them.  And don't give me "1/2 of 1/3 of government."  The simple expedient of withholding unanimous consent during the "debate" over Obamacare would have ended it- no one was going to sit while 1800 pages were read so that a bunch of old men and women could hear them.

I could expound at length about how you seem intent on remaining disconnected from the American People (the vast majority support legal immigration while opposing illegal immigration or any form of amnesty, for instance, yet you continually seek "comprehensive immigration reform").  I could point out the awkward and pathetic attempts you have made to seem "hip" and "cool."  I could point out time after time after time that senior Republicans have called those like me "the fringe."

But I will not.

Had I known that I had been registered as a Republican, I would have asked that registration be removed long ago.  Any party of John McCain, Lindsey Graham, John Boehner, Mitch McConnell, and John Cornyn is not a party with which I identify.  Perhaps you can hit me up again when you have listened to the likes of Mike Lee, Pete Sessions, and Ted Cruz.  Maybe I'll be more willing to listen when you grow a spine, or testicles, or both.  Until then, no, not one red cent.
More Sincerely than you can possibly Imagine,

The Dedicated Tenther

Friday, July 25, 2014

Who Abandoned Whom?

So, I got this in my email today.



Now, normally I get these emails and I just ignore them.  If I decide I want to give money, I will.  I don't give money to the RNC for lots of reasons, but those have been *my* reasons and I've kept them to myself.  However, accusing me of "abandoning the Republican Party" is a bridge too far.

You know what Mr. RNC Treasurer Tony Parker?  You asked for it, you're getting it.

When I was a kid in the 80s, I believed, with the innocence of youth, that the Republican Party was a conservative party.  How could I not?  Ronald Reagan was president.  My Conservative (yes: Christian) parents loved him.  My father (in banking) never bought into the idea that the S&L crash was due to too little government.  The Republicans had reduced taxes, and, if they had also increased spending, at least it was spending on conservative things, right?

Then came the 90s.  I got a little older.  I was still a kid, still innocent, but I was pretty sure that raising taxes wasn't the conservative option, whatever George HW Bush had said.  And I'd been taught lying was bad (Read my lips).  Both George HW Bush and Bob Dole were certainly better than Bill Clinton- a draft-dodging womanizer (at best)- who never met a government program he didn't like, but I was beginning to see that things weren't so clear as I'd believed when I was (yet) younger.

My first Presidential election was in 2000.  I enthusiastically voted for George W Bush.  He'd been my governor, I knew I liked how Texas was running, I figured we'd be back to conservatism after 8 years in the Prog/Commie desert.  And things started out well.  The crash of 2000 happened (that no one remembers), and President Bush responded as he should have- by cutting taxes and putting money back in the hands of the citizenry.  If he also gave some of my money to people who already didn't pay taxes... well, the economy was in a slump.

And after September 11th, 2001, I was incredibly glad he was at the helm.

But George Bush was never Conservative.  Maybe "conservativist" might be a better term, but really he was always a big government progressive who happened to believe in slightly smaller government than the Democrats.  The Patriot Act passed at his insistence.  The Department of Homeland Security quickly started stepping on the Constitution.  No Child Left Behind and Medicare Part D both passed and were signed by President Bush.

For 2001, and the immediate aftermath, I was still young enough to believe that "as long as people we can trust" were in charge, the law giving them the power to trample on the Constitution would not be abused.  I have since come to realize the error in that thinking was flawed.  For one thing, people we trust will not always be in charge.  For another, you should never trust government in the first place.

I've grown wiser since then.  It's been nearly 13 years since Muslim Terrorists flew airplanes full of our neighbors, brothers, sisters, parents, and children into three buildings -and attempted another- in the largest single attack on US Soil in history.

And what does the RNC Stand for now?
1- They stand for big government.  I have never heard a Republican on the national stage- except for Presidential debates, which don't count (words are cheap) call for an end to the grossly unconstitutional government overreach which exists.  Find me the Constitutional Authority for the EPA, DoE (either one), No Child Left Behind, Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, or any other big government program.  The Constitution is short, I'll wait. 

Republicans don't want to shrink government.  They don't want it out of our lives as much as possible.  They want it under their control.

2- They stand for amnesty.  Over and over Republicans have tried to force amnesty (under the Orwellian term "comprehensive immigration reform") down the nation's throat.  We don't want it.  A nation which cannot or will not control its borders is not a nation.

And what do Republicans stand against?

1- They stand against small government.  If you are for big government, you cannot be for small government.  QED.

2- They stand against border control and sane immigration policy.  See above.

3- Most importantly: They stand against their own constituents.  Over and over since 2010, engaged Republican voters at a grass-roots level have shown their displeasure with the current status quo by selecting actual conservative candidates to run against incumbents.  Some of those were... ill advised.  But some were not.  Some were men and women quite capable of winning their elections.  How did the RNC respond?

When they engaged in the primary at all, they always did so on the side of the incumbent.  I suppose that's fair enough.  But what did they do *after* the primary?  Well, when the incumbent won, they proceeded to rub Conservatives' noses in the fact that their candidate lost, and then immediately called for "party unity."  When the incumbent lost, they gave words of faint praise, and then mostly did nothing.  That was bad enough.

But then came the Mississippi run-off between Thad Cochrain and Chris McDaniel.  In that race, the Republican National Committee shat upon Conservative Republicans from a great height.  When Republican Leadership bought ads smearing Chris McDaniel as a racist homophobe- the very same deceitful attacks Democrats use- they were saying to Conservatives across the nation: "We don't want you.  We don't value you.  We don't think we need you to win."

To which I say, "Fine.  Then you won't have me."

I will vote for Republicans in my Great State of Texas.  I will vote for Ted Cruz- one Republican who does seem to get it.  I reserve the right- if the Republican Party stops trying to urinate on me and tell me it's precipitation- to vote for whoever is the Republican nominee in 2016.

But the RNC will never see another dime from me.  And if the candidates are not as conservative as I am, they will not get my vote.  If they're too Progressive, I'll vote Democrat.

No more.  You have pushed me too far, and you will push me no further.

Burn it down.
Scatter the stones.
Salt the earth where it stood.

Friday, June 6, 2014

The Case for Divorce - Brief

"When, in the course of Human Events..." thus begins one of the greatest declarations for Liberty in history.  I believe that threshold has been crossed.  I believe the differences between Progressives and Conservatives in America are irreconcilable.  In this place over the next several posts, I will lay out why I believe the United States as it exists today cannot continue, and why Conservatives should start talking earnestly, passionately, and logically about a National Divorce.

This is not a subject approached lightly.  This is not flippancy, or a tantrum over "not getting my way."  This is a sober reflection on the state of our Nation, and on what I believe must follow if we are to live in peace with each other.  This is not a call to revolution or rebellion.  It is a call for discussion amongst ourselves, and with our political rivals.

I will lay out four areas I believe show that we have gone too far; that the Federal Government of the United States no longer protects those Liberties it was constituted to protect.  Those areas are: The Executive, the Legislative, the Judiciary, and Economics.

I hope you will give these arguments thoughtful consideration; I'm not trying to "throw bombs."  I'm trying to save Liberty for my children.

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

SCOAMT^2

Readers of this blog know that I believe that the President of the United States is a stuttering clusterf*ck of a malignant traitor.  I have been saying the same since shortly after September 11, 2012.

Well, now I have more evidence.  Enter Bowe (pronounced, I’m told, “Bo”) Bergdhal.  Young Mr. Bergdhal was rejected from the French Foreign Legion before joining the United States Army (hey: US Army- you might take that under consideration).  Apparently, he believed that USA, in this case, meant US Aid and was a humanitarian outreach program, as opposed to a military force designed to kill people and break things.

So, upon being deployed to Afghanistan and actually required to fight against terrorists, he decided “this blows” and walked away.  Literally walked away- he left his duty station along with a note (apparently) in which he declared his desire to renounce his citizenship.  Now, the US Army has Views on people who leave their duty stations in the middle of a war.  It’s called Desertion in the Face of the Enemy, and it’s perhaps the second-biggest no-no an Army private can commit.

But, it turns out, this was not the end of his parsimonious behavior.  When US Army forces were sent to apprehend him, they discovered that he specifically wanted to join the Taliban.  This moves from second biggest no-no (desertion) to the biggest no-no: treason.  Providing Aid and Comfort to the Enemy.  That crime for which there is exactly one punishment.  Yes, Bowe Bergdhal is, at best, a deserter who got half-a-dozen of his buddies killed, and at worst a traitor.

So it makes all kinds of sense that the Traitor-in-Chief would release five of our highest-value terrorists from Guantanamo Bay prison to secure his release.  Absolutely.  Hey, we’re only down a net 4 terrorists.  This is also “Aid and Comfort to the Enemy.”  Releasing five guys to do more harm to Americans (because that’s what they want to do) in order to get back one deserter?  Whatever happened to “we don’t negotiate with terrorists?”

Oh, SCOAMT is all over that one, too.  Now, apparently, these enemy combatants taken on the field with no uniforms, answering to no government, and representing no organized military force are somehow POWs.  That deserter? Not a deserter who was taken hostage- but also a POW.  So it’s a POW-swap.  Because King Barakanhanen said so, you racist tea-bagger.

Now, I actually expect this kind of behavior from the Man-Child-in-Chief.  He was under heat for the VA scandal, and wanted something to take that heat off.  As Ace pointed out today, it’s a political decision that Democrats can spin- unlike the VA scandal.  So it makes some sense.

What doesn’t make sense is that Republicans have remained almost uniformly silent on this.  What does it take to get John Boehner and Mitch McConnell fired up?  The President of the United States just arguably committed treason.  He violated several laws to do so- on top of all the other laws he’s already broken, and his general Imperial approach to the Presidency.  If that’s not grounds for Impeachment, what is?

It may already be too late, but Republicans must push back against the SCOAMT.  They must start stone-walling him at every turn.  No more bipartisanship, unless it’s unification against the SCOAMT.  No more pushes for Amnesty.  No more “my friends across the aisle.”  Either the Democrats are with America, or they’re with Barack Hussein Obama.  And the Republicans face the same choice; they are either for America, the Rule of Law, and basic moral decency, or they are with Barack Hussein Obama.

Which is it?

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Evil at the VA

Or: An early look at ObamaCare "Death Panels"

This Story is by Becky Oliver at Fox 4 here in DFW.  Go read it: seriously.

For those too impatient- a veteran noticed a lump under his arm, and tried to get care via the VA.  Because of their bureaucratic run-around, his treatment was delayed by 4 months.  That delay was in treatment of Melanoma- a very agressive cancer.  It is very likely that, had he been seen initially and treated with current treatment options, he would not be a terminal patient today.

There's no way to know that, of course, but it's highly likely.

Now, first off- if you notice a lump or an odd mole or anything like that, and the answer you're given when you seek treatment is "you'll have to wait several months?"  Yeah, seek treatment elsewhere.

That said- how has this evil infested the VA?  And why should we believe that it won't infest ObamaCare?  I am virtually certain that no one at the VA looked at this veteran's chart and decided to let him die of cancer.  I'm certain it was all much more banal than that.  Indeed, it is the very banality of the evil that makes it so terrifying.  If someone had set out to deny this man, and his family for that matter, care, then there would be someone who could be made to answer for this.  Someone could be called out and made to answer.  Instead, it was simply "the process."

This comes as the VA is under scrutiny in Arizona, which is itself merely a symptom of a wider problem.  Up and down the VA there are stories of delayed care, sub-standard care, and simple neglect.  Such a culture can only exist if the man at the top allows it.  In this case, the man at the top is not Secretary Eric Shinseki.  Given the amount of time this has been going on, and the fact that Barack Obama specifically ran on "fixing" the VA, the "man at the top" is Barack Hussein Obama, that stuttering clusterf*ck of a malignant traitor.

If the SCOAMT cared about our Veterans, he would already have demanded Secretary Shinseki's resignation.  If he really cared about our Veterans, he would already be working to correct issues like this.  Instead he tries to handle like a "fake scandal," and rallies the Democrats around him to decry the "faux outrage."

No, the SCOAMT does not care about our Veterans- they are of no use to him.  And so it will be with your health care under ObamaCare.  There will be delays and bureaucracy instead of consultations and treatment.  When confronted with the consequences, responses like those featured in the linked story will be issued.

One other party is responsible for this- Republicans in Congress.  It is they who have refused to act as a check on Barack Obama's worst tendencies.  At every turn they choose to "wait for a better opportunity" or not to investigate at all.  How many opportunities have the Republicans had to pull the SCOAMT up short?  And every time they have refused because someone somewhere might be offended.

There is only one way to fix this culture of neglect and carelessness at the VA, and that is to remove the man at the top.  Not the Secretary of the VA- his boss.

Monday, May 26, 2014

Memorial Day

That's an odd name, right?  "Memorial Day."  A memorial is a structure, monument, or act designed to help people remember an event.  So what is the memorial?  What event is being remembered?

Is the memorial cooking hamburgers and hot-dogs?  Is it flags and banners? (BTW- Kudos to Whataburger- every one I saw today had their flag at half-staff)  It certainly seems fairly generic, doesn't it?  I mean, there are at least three secular holidays we celebrate the same way- and in Texas we've got a lot more.  So that can't be the memorial, can it?

And what are we remembering?  The last Memorial Day?  More seriously, are we remembering every individual death incurred by members of our military?

I feel like Charlie Brown asking the meaning of Christmas.  There has to be more than hot-dogs and hamburgers, more than graves and flags.  So what is it?

Maybe the answer lies in what it means (or at least used to mean) to be an American.  Maybe the answer is not the individual deaths, but the purpose of those deaths.  Maybe the answer is this: Today we remember Martyrs.  Not martyrs for any Religion- but Martyrs for Freedom.  Today we remember the lives they knowingly endangered and gave up so that we, today- and every day if we choose- *could* eat hamburgers and hot-dogs.  Today we remember their families and the sacrifices they made.

Today we remember that freedom is easily lost or forfeited, and requires a terrible price to redeem.  I thank God that I have not had to pay that price- not myself, or anyone I love.  I thank God that there are those who have, and more who continue to stand ready to make that sacrifice.

God bless you, heroes, I, for one, am not worthy of your service.

Monday, May 12, 2014

Of Obamacare and the Private Sector

First let me get this out of the way: F*ck Obamacare and the horse it rode in on.

My employer's Open Enrollment period just began.  When I was hired in October last year, there were two plans- a "traditional" plan (the PPO that we've all come to know and love) and a "Select" (or something like that) plan- a High Deductible Health Plan.  As I was hired after open enrollment, I was not given an option, and was placed in the HDHP.  Given my family's medical needs this was sub-optimal, but we made it work looking forward to open enrollment when we could elect to spend a little more per paycheck and get a PPO plan with co-payments instead of the High Deductible plan.

Well, that got all blowed up.

Now, our CEO and CFO and all of those people went to great pains to tell us how the "Private Exchange" into which we've been entered is not a "Public Exchange" and therefore isn't ObamaCare.  It just *happens* to have a "Gold," "Silver," and "Bronze" level and they all just *happen* to be High Deductible plans (though the Gold Plan doesn't qualify as one for Health Savings Account purposes).  It also just *happens* that the least bad of the plans for my family would nearly double my current insurance premium.

I want it on the record that I do not blame my employer for this.  Health care sucks right now, thanks to Obamacare.  If I blame for anything it's for lying to their employees about the reasons for the sucky choices, and for hiding behind "MOAR CHOICE!" (Ooooh, we have 3 sucky plans instead of 1 good one and 1 bad one- oh, and more insurance companies.)  C'mon guys, at least man up and admit "Hey, for those of you who want/need the PPO, this is really going to suck."

However, I wanted to highlight this because of two things.  First, this is going to happen everywhere.  Where employers don't just drop coverage entirely, they are all going to be forced to move to these kinds of plans because the insurance carriers are going to have to raise rates for everything to cover their increased costs under Obamacare.  I would feel worse for the insurance companies, but many of them supported Obamacare.  Now my family and I are trapped in the middle.

Second is this: this was an entirely predictable occurrence.  Many of us on the right said this would happen, and we were told that we were being "scare mongers" and "conspiracy theorists."  The SCOAMT, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid forced this on the American People, and it's going to kill us.

"Yeah, that's old news," you say, and you're right.  That is old news.  So is this, but it bears highlighting as well-  Republicans are being way too weak-kneed about pushing for full repeal.  There is no "fix" here.  It must be utterly and completely destroyed.  As I've pointed out before, those "popular" provisions of the law are some of the worst.  Anything less than full repeal is unacceptable, because anything less than full repeal will *still* kill the best health care system in the world.

Obamacare:

Burn it down.Scatter the stones.Salt the earth where it stood.

Here Have a Post


Since Ace is down...  here, play in my comments section for a while.

Try not to break anything- I haven't been posting because, instead, I've been working.

Oh... so you wanted some content, too?

Okay, I'll add stuff as I come across it.


Boko Haram Claims those girls they kidnapped have all converted to Islam.  I say, "I bet."

Pray for the people of the Texas Panhandle.  They're supposed to get some rain today, say the meteorologists, but Wildfires in Texas are a bad, bad thing.

I was promised Global Warming.  Where the F is my Global Warming?

The Moron Lifestyle is not for everyone...


Thursday, January 9, 2014

As if we needed proof…

As a follow-up to my last post.

Go read this from Ace.

Funny, that reads even worse than what I’ve seen about the emails driving “Bridgegate.”  This email says the choice to make sequester as painful as possible was directly from the Executive Branch.

Yet, from the MFM we received crickets.  Indeed, sequester and the shutdown were lain at Republicans’ feet- despite the fact that it was the SCOAMT, as President, who had most control over how that financial impact would be felt.  He even ordered (at increased expense) open-air monuments closed.

But “Bridgegate” (aside: why must everything be “whatever-gate” how about “Bridge-aquiddick?”) is the Worst! Scandal!!  EVAH!!!

And the Media are mere neutral observers.  Nothing but the facts from them…

Worst. Scandal! EVAH!!!

Imagine this.  You have an executive- doesn’t matter of what.  Maybe s/he is the CEO of a major company.  Maybe s/he is a mayor, governor, or even the President.  At some point during the Executive’s tenure, some of their aides/assistants engage in corrupt behavior.  Whatever form it takes, they wield the power of the executive to harm political enemies.

Word of the abuse leaks out.  The Executive is asked and denies any wrongdoing by him/herself or his/her staff.  More information leaks out proving the bad behavior.  Suddenly we have a scandal.

Now, because of recent events, this scenario could apply to New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.  Certainly the traffic scandal with which he’s dealing fits the mold.  Certainly the Media would have you believe this is the Worst. Scandal. Ever.

But I’m not talking about that.  President Barack Obama (a stuttering clusterf*ck of a malignant traitor) should have been plagued by many worse scandals.  I say “should have been” because the Media had approximately 1/100th the interest in any of those scandals than they have displayed with Governor Christie.  The NSA scandal?  Oh, Obama only heard about that from the papers- and the media bought it.  The IRS Scandal?  Oh, he didn’t see the IG Report until it ran in the paper- and the media bought it.  Benghazi?  Oh, he had nothing to do with that.  Fast & Furious?  Nothing to do with the president.

Yet it is Chris Christie who is labeled as “either an incompetent executive or a liar.”  Chris Christie at least fired the person at the heart of the scandal.  The woman at the heart of the IRS scandal?  Yeah, she got a promotion.  The only people fired in relation to Fast & Furious are the whistle-blowers.  Kathleen Sebelius (if you believe the SCOAMT) completely concealed the fact that healthcare.gov (which still doesn’t work) didn’t work- and she’s still working as head of HHS.

This is the Media that claim to be “fair” and “nonpartisan.”  Later this year they will want to be the arbiters of “truth” for hundreds of Congressional and Gubernatorial races.  Yet they cannot find the interest to investigate abuses by the Most Powerful Man in the world (or, at least, his aides and Secretaries), but a scandal in New Jersey is Major National News.

Remember that as summer turns to fall.  Remember it again in 2016.  They are not non-partisan.  They are not “fair.”  And the ones they cover for are much worse offenders than those they persecute.