Has anyone seen my fiddle?

I spend a lot of time on the internet. Being a cubicle slave for 40 hours a week at an undisclosed location affords me a lot of time to read other blogs and even their comments sections. At this one blog in particular a right-wing republican blogger was railing against the reconciliation process being employed by house and senate democrats to pass the health care boondoggle by bypassing the filibuster in the senate. Inevitably one of the commentors calling himself Proud_Liberal was pointing out the republicans in the past used the same tactic to pass tax cut legislation. This of course descended into the typical partisan bickering and name calling that is characteristic of what passes for political discourse in this day and age. The liberal called the conservative a racist. The conservative called the liberal a fascist. This went on and on with the liberal foaming at the mouth about Bush’s push to war in Iraq and Afghanistan followed by the conservative defending a revolutionary standpoint using the health care reform bill as the proverbial final straw. The whole thing was idiotic.

The problem with both sides to these sorts of debates is the hypocrisy. I pointed this out in a previous post entitled Hooray for Our Side. Democrat apologists will often use the line “You didn’t complain when Bush did the same thing.” when Republican supporters point out the missteps of the current administration. They have a point but there’s a fallacy to this argument. The conservatives didn’t complain about the socialist agenda of G.W. Bush but the progressives did. Now that a Democrat congress and executive administration is in place the progressives have no problem with anything the congress does while the conservatives are crying for revolution. Republican politicians are trying to convince the voting public that if they win majorities in the house and senate in the 2010 elections that they will enact change (sound familiar?). In the words of our 43rd President “fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can’t get fooled again.”

I for one want the progressive socialist agenda to go through. Yes, you read that correctly. I give up. I want it to go through. I can almost hear you say “Are you crazy, Ivan?” *snicker* There’s a reason I say this. For the last century or so progressives, communists, and socialists have always believed that if they were granted broad sweeping powers they could remake any nation into a Utopian paradise. They’ve been trying this for nearly 100 years and they have failed miserably every time. The former Soviet Union, Red China, North Korea, Cambodia, and Cuba are just a few examples of how this agenda only serves to impoverish and ultimately enslave the majority of the population for the good of the state. However, despite the empirical failures of the progressive philosophy these folks are still convinced that it could work if only they were the ones to implement it. My response to them is “Go for it. Let’s see how that works out for you. ” Yes, I want America to be flushed down the commie rat hole. I want it to become clear to every man woman and child in excruciating detail just how backwards, perverse, and destructive the socialist agenda actually is. Sometimes lessons need to be learned the hard way and Americans need to know firsthand why socialism is ultimately a kind of serfdom rivaling that of the middle ages.

Republican bloggers often call for revolution, but in reality the only revolution they want is more Republicans in office doing the same things their Democrat predecessors have been doing all along. Also as is expertly pointed out by Democrats who claim “Republicans did the same thing”, the Democrats are no different than their reviled Republican counterparts. The political polarization in this country has nothing to do with principles, facts, or morality. It is strictly about party affiliation. So I give up. This country deserves to be 12 trillion dollars in debt. This country deserves the 50 trillion dollars in unfunded liabilities from medicare, medicaid, and social security. This country deserves the 2 trillion dollar a year health care boondoggle being foisted upon us by our elected flunkies. The people in this country have abandoned it’s founding principles long ago and the only way back is for the Federal government to collapse under it’s own weight the same way the Soviet Union did. If the Democrat’s health care reform bill will help to speed up this process then I fully endorse it. Let Rome burn.

I don’t like this game anymore.
photo credit: alancleaver_2000

I’m never one to assert that an overly simplistic and idealistic course of action will solve all the world’s woes and create a utopia. As a matter of fact, the oversimplification of the problem/solution relationship is oftentimes the primary reason libertarianism is regarded with a great deal of skepticism in the realm of mainstream politics. That being said, I believe I may have come up with a two-part solution that may help steer this nation back towards it’s founding principles and away from the progressive socialist course it has taken in recent decades.

The first step to this approach was partially inspired by a friend of mine who posted to Facebook that he believes that anyone living on the government dole should be denied the right to vote. My take on this is similar but not by any means the same. According to The Tax Foundation, 40 million people who file pay no Federal income tax. That’s approximately 30 percent of the total number of people who file a Federal return. I would propose that anyone who does not pay any federal income tax be denied participation in any Federal election. If you aren’t paying into the system you really shouldn’t have any say in how it’s run. This would not apply to state level elections because just about everyone pays some kind of tax on the state level in the form of sales taxes, property taxes, and other forms of taxation.

How would this help? Politicians often campaign to get elected to high office by offering the voters free stuff at the expense of the “rich.” “Rich” in this context means anyone fool enough to have any significant tax liability from their income. This sets up a system that rewards those who don’t pay into it at the expense of those that do. It seems fair to me that those who have to support the system financially should be the ones who are allowed to decide how it works. If you don’t have any skin in the game than you don’t get to decide how it’s played.  This would make the politician’s promises of free stuff at the expense of “the rich” evaporate. It may even introduce the foreign concept of fiscal responsibility to Washington. If the parasites who don’t pay into the system are prohibited from voting, there would be no cause for legislators to spend ridiculous amounts of money on entitlement expansions to buy their votes. This would bring balance back to the system and would encourage those who aren’t paying into the system to get off the welfare payroll so they may once again have a say in the national elections. I know this seems extreme and undemocratic. However if one considers the mounting deficits as well as the tens of trillions of dollars in unfunded liabilities for entitlement programs democracy has ultimately proven to be the two wolves and one sheep voting for what to have for dinner.

My second proposal is much less controversial but I still think it would carry significant political change. Instead of holding national elections in November, we should hold them in April. April 16th would be the day I would pick. For those of you who don’t know, April 15th is the deadline for filing for the Federal income tax. The attitudes of the electorate are very different in April than they are in November. When a candidate for public office is offering expansions of government spending in November, it seems like a good idea. However after taking it in the wallet in April, it’s not such a good idea to John Q. Taxpayer. If elections are held on April 16th the voting public is bound to be more wary of politicians bearing gifts that will ultimately be paid for out of their taxes. What about the inaugurations? Normally they’re held in January and I doubt anyone would want to wait nine months before candidates are sworn in. I propose changing the inauguration date to July 5th. That would somehow seem fitting to inaugurate our candidates the day after we commemorate American independence. I know that seems a bit romanticized. I guess I’m really a sap.

"I do not think it means what you think it means."

Have you ever watched an elected official or someone seeking public office make a speech and realized that he or she is not speaking the same language that you or I would typically use? Everything he or she might say appears to be laced with highly euphemistic vocabulary that seems to have been cooked up by a crack team of spin doctors and psycholinguists.  It almost seems impossible to understand what is really being said. For quite a while now I’ve been pondering what would be the best way to expose to public discourse the seemingly incomprehensible double-speak being stated, promised, and refuted by the political class here in America. I’ve concluded that the simplest and most effective way to achieve this would be a Politics to English Dictionary. I’ve been kicking around the idea of writing this dictionary for quite some time and decided today that I should start composing it right here on the libertoad blog site. After all this site is my own personal bully pulpit for my political and social views, so it seems fitting that it should serve as a place to draft such a work.

Disclaimer: Please note that the definitions in the Politics to English Dictionary are sure to be laced with the kind of sarcasm and cynicism that anyone who has read my blog should come to expect.

Politics: Infrastructure

English: Any one or group of pet government boondoggles lobbied heavily for by congresspersons, senators, and lobbying organizations. These are always subsidized by taxpayers and are usually considerably more expensive than necessary due to no-bid contracts and union influences. Most politicians will account for excessive government spending by saying that the money is going towards “infrastructure” which usually means it’s either being wasted at an alarming rate or is being used to line the pockets of campaign contributors. Money spent on infrastructure rarely contributes to the well being of the community at large.

Politics: Too Big to Fail

English: A corporation which is either a major campaign contributor or has significant ties to the Federal Government. This phrase is typically used to describe any company with strong government ties that has been mismanaged into bankruptcy. These companies often engage in risky and irresponsible business practices with the full knowledge that their government cronies will force the taxpayers to bear the financial burden of their failures. This allows the upper management of these companies to earn billions of dollars when the market is booming and not lose a dime when the market crashes. This also describes any company with a large unionized labor force which when faced with bankruptcy and layoffs gets a large sum of taxpayer money to bail out the company and appease the union lobby.

Politics: Overseas Contingency Operations/Exporting Democracy/Spreading Democracy/Making the World Safe for Democracy

English: Interventionist policing of every other country in the world. These military operations are usually spurned on at the behest of the United Nations security council. This body of intergovernmental bureaucrats perceives the U.S. military as their own global police force which is an attitude that is enthusiastically embraced by the hawkish Wilsonian progressives in Washington. Regardless of expense or constitutionality these operations are pursued with zeal by the executive branch of the U.S. government often coupled with paranoid rhetoric and nationalistic emotional appeals.

Politics: Economic Stimulus

English: Payoff. Economic stimulus is a term coined from Keynesian economic theory which states that if the government spends money and encourages spending in the private sector that a depressed economy can be revitalized. In reality economic stimulus is a means for politicians to pay back money from the taxpayer to their largest campaign contributors. For example, during the administration of G.W. Bush there was economic incentive for “faith based initiatives.” This was a payoff to the evangelical organizations who contributed to his election campaign. The same goes for President B.H. Obama who’s 800 billion dollar stimulus package went to ACORN, Organizing for America, and other organizations who supported his election campaign.

Politics: Incentives

English: Bribes payed to politicians by other politicians at the expense of the taxpayer. A perfect example of this was the $100 million worth of incentives offered by Sen. Harry Reid to Sen. Mary Landrieu to buy her support for his draft of the health care reform bill. Another example of this was the ’sweeteners’ added to the TARP bill to give certain congressmen incentives to pass the bill despite the protests of their constituents.

Politics: Spending Cut

English: A reduction in projected spending increases. It’s not really a cut. A spending cut to a politician is not an actual reduction in current levels of government spending but rather a reduction in the projected increase. In other words a spending cut is merely a smaller increase in government spending.

It’s not much of a dictionary right now but I have to start somewhere. Stay tuned for more additions to the Politics to English dictionary where political euphemisms and spin will be handily deconstructed.

A tribute album to insanity

American President Abraham Lincoln was once quoted as saying “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.” Televangelist Pat Robertson has made a long and shockingly successful career out of removing all doubt almost every time he opens his mouth. In the aftermath of the huge earthquake that devastated the impoverished nation of Haiti this week, Mr. Robertson did what he does best and once again made an ass of himself on live television by saying, “It may be a blessing in disguise. … Something happened a long time ago in Haiti, and people might not want to talk about it. Haitians were originally under the heel of the French. You know, Napoleon the third, or whatever. And they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said, we will serve you if you will get us free from the French. True story. And so, the devil said, okay it’s a deal. Ever since they have been cursed by one thing after the other.” A pact with the devil? Are you serious? It’s a true story? Where’s your proof, Pat? Do the Haitians have this pact in writing somewhere? Did the Devil sign it? What does the Devil’s signature look like? Sometimes I think he just makes this shit up so he can feel good about getting billions of dollars in donations to his own charities while not spending a dime to alleviate real human suffering elsewhere.

What I fail to understand is how this douchenozzle managed to remain on national television for so long. It follows that somebody (perhaps even more than one person) watches his program and is a fan of his work. Who are these people (in my best Jerry Seinfeld voice)? Can you imagine how low one’s IQ would have to be to tune into The 700 Club for anything more than a good laugh? Where do these people come up with the money to support this so-called ministry? I’d be surprised if these folks could even muster enough brain power to tie their own shoelaces. I’d almost feel sorry for these idiots if they weren’t so annoying and vile. Some of what spews forth from the mouth of Pat Robertson not only reflects his own intellectual and moral bankruptcy, it reflects upon the stupidity and immorality of those who follow him and his ministries.

And now for your consideration, Libertoad.com presents Pat Robertson’s greatest hits, with commentary and rebuke from your host Crazy Ivan.

“Just like what Nazi Germany did to the Jews, so liberal America is now doing to the evangelical Christians. It’s no different. It is the same thing. It is happening all over again. It is the Democratic Congress, the liberal-based media and the homosexuals who want to destroy the Christians. Wholesale abuse and discrimination and the worst bigotry directed toward any group in America today. More terrible than anything suffered by any minority in history.” Part of me is thinking we should either put Pat Robertson in a concentration camp for a month or sell him into slavery to some godawful third-world hellhole. Maybe then he might gain a little perspective. Oh hell! Who am I kidding?

“Wait a minute, I didn’t say ‘assassination.’ I said our special forces should ‘take him out,’ and ‘take him out’ can be a number of things.” This was something Pat Robertson said to mitigate his earlier call for the assassination of Hugo Chavez, the commie dictator from Venezuela. Pat’s backpedaling here, and only succeeding in digging himself deeper. ‘Take him out’ can mean a number of things? Like what? Take him out for drinks and dancing? Maybe take him out to dinner and a movie? Show him a good time? Is there something you want to tell us Pat? Closets are for clothes after all.

“There is never in the Constitution at any point, anything that applies that to the states, none at all. The Supreme Court has done it over repeated attempts by Congress which have been beaten back to do such a thing.” Uhh…Pat “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” I believe that’s the tenth amendment to the Constitution of the United States…dumbass.

“We have imagined ourselves invulnerable and have been consumed by the pursuit of … health, wealth, material pleasures and sexuality… It [terrorism] is happening because God Almighty is lifting his protection from us.” This would have to be Pat Robertson’s magnum opus of stupid. He was spouting this claptrap before the dust at ground zero had even settled. It also appears to me that Pat Robertson seems to have no shortage of wealth, and material possessions. As far as sexuality goes,  not even the gay community has obsessed as much over gayness as he has. It makes one wonder.

“You say you’re supposed to be nice to the Episcopalians and the Presbyterians and the Methodists and this, that, and the other thing. Nonsense. I don’t have to be nice to the spirit of the Antichrist. I can love the people who hold false opinions but I don’t have to be nice to them.” The spirit of the Antichrist? You mean President Obama? I didn’t know he was a Presbyterian. I’m kidding of course. But seriously, this whole “chosen people” crap is the most tired cliche’ of organized religion. Every little cult and sect says “We’re God’s chosen people and all of those other infidels are going to hell.” If God chose Pat Robertson then God is one dumb son of a bitch.

“[Planned Parenthood] is teaching kids to fornicate, teaching people to have adultery, every kind of bestiality, homosexuality, lesbianism — everything that the Bible condemns.” I think it would be funny one day if someone were to go to Planned Parenthood to get an abortion for a sheep that he knocked up during an act of bestiality. I wish I could come up with a better response but what Pat says is usually way funnier than anything I could come up with.

“Many of those people involved with Adolph Hitler were Satanists, many of them were homosexuals — the two things seem to go together.” He might be on to something here. After all, those jackboots that the Nazi soldiers used to wear are very popular among gay leather boys. As far as the Satanist thing goes, that’s a bit of a stretch. Can you imagine a seriously flaming homosexual with a lisp praying to “Thaytan?” Yeah, I can’t either.

“Many observers say that AIDS is the hammer and gun of the homosexual movement, an effective vehicle to propel the homosexual agenda throughout every phase of our society. “ And there are other observers who say that AIDS is a disease that kills people, but what the hell do they know?

“How can there be peace when drunkards, drug dealers, communists, atheists, New Age worshipers of Satan, secular humanists, oppressive dictators, greedy money changers, revolutionary assassins, adulterers, and homosexuals are on top?” Dude, you forgot to mention the Illuminati, the Bildeburg Group, and the space aliens who probe our butt-holes and put microchips in our heads. As long as all these groups are on top we’re totally fucked.

“I don’t think I’d be waving those flags in God’s face if I were you. … [A] condition like this will bring about the destruction of your nation. It’ll bring about terrorist bombs, it’ll bring earthquakes, tornadoes and possibly a meteor.” This was something ol’ Pat said with regards to the annual Gay Days celebration at Disney World in Orlando. It came as no shock to anyone that Pat has no career as a weather forecaster. There were no earthquakes, tornadoes, or meteors. As a matter of fact it was perfect ass-less chaps weather. On the other hand, only a few months after the Orlando festivities Robertson’s compound in Virginia Beach was blasted by Hurricane Bonnie. Wow, God gave the fags a nice day in Orlando and sent a category 3 hurricane to Pat’s front door. This may be hard for an evangelical nut like Robertson to believe, but I think God is siding with the fags.

Then of course there are Pat’s numerous doomsday predictions of which one has yet to come true. Here’s the breakdown.

In 1976 Robertson predicted that the world would come to an end in late 1982. The world didn’t end, but the DeLorean Motor company did file for bankruptcy that year. Maybe Robertson was a shareholder.

In 2006 he claimed that God told him that a tsunami would hit the pacific northwest as punishment for all those fornicators in Seattle and Portland that same year. Of course there was no tsunami. I’m beginning to think that God’s just fucking with Pat for his own amusement.

In 2007 God told Pat Robertson that there would be a mass killing in the United States later that year, possibly due to a terrorist attack. There was of course no mass killing in 2007, and God had once again fooled Pat Robertson into believing another doomsday scenario.

So there you have it. The Greatest Hits of Pat Robertson complete with assorted B-sides. It’s unlikely that anyone who reads this site is a fan of Pat Robertson, but if you are, what the hell is the matter with you? But seriously folks, I hope this compilation of wacky quotes and predictions offers an insight into the sheer unadulterated crazy that is Pat Robertson. Keeping this in mind, we at Libertoad.com would like to present Pat with the Douchebaggery Lifetime Achievement Award. It might not be salvation from on high, Pat, but it is what you deserve.

Whoever wins... we lose

Recently it has come to the attention of those who follow politics that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said some things about President Obama that could be construed as racist. During the presidential campaign Reid was quoted as saying that Mr. Obama is “light skinned” with no “negro dialect.” The blogspere on the right of the aisle has been having a field day with this. After all their counterparts on the left have been bleating about racism nonstop since last November and they still squawk about it every chance they get. The folks on the right have been chomping at the bit to give the lefties a dose of their own medicine. Is Harry Reid a racist? He is a Mormon after all. Didn’t their doctrine at one time condemn black people as being servants of the devil?

In all likelihood Harry Reid isn’t any more a racist than those accusing him. Then again neither were the tea party and town hall protesters who have been vilified by the mainstream media throughout most of 2009. The lefties often assert that the outrage exprssed by these folks has nothing to do with deficits and government spending and everything to do with a black man being elected President. To support this assertion they say that the conservatives never voiced any objections to the deficits racked up by the last President who was a white guy. While it is a valid point that the last administration racked up obscene deficits and expanded the Federal government beyond any semblance of sanity, the grievances against the current administration have nothing to do with the President’s race. I’ll say it again slowly and with big letters for all of you Daily KOS readers out there. T H E Y   H A V E   N O T H I N G   T O   D O   W I T H   T H E   P R E S I D E N T ‘ S   R A C E . The reason the right-of-center folks are hammering on President Obama’s spending after giving G.W. Bush a pass for the same transgression is because of his party affiliation not his race. Because he’s a Democrat the folks loyal to the Republican party will always find fault with him despite the sins of his predecessor. And when you see party loyalty you will always see a double-standard.

Case in point. Between the years 2003 and 2009 anti-war protesters have been out in force opposing the war efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. During these protests they would carry signs depicting President Bush as the successor to Adolf Hitler. They would have horns drawn on his head to make him look satanic and evil. He would often be hung or burned in effigy. There could not have been stronger vilification of President Bush than at these thousands of protests around the country. It was a hostile scene to say the least. Now that Mr. Bush is out of office there seem to be fewer anti-war protesters taking to the streets. We still have troops deployed in Iraq and the President has even approved for 30,000 new troops to be deployed in Afghanistan. I have yet to see a single sign from anti-war protesters depicting Mr. Obama as Hitler or the devil. Not one. Nobody from the A.N.S.W.E.R coalition is hanging Mr. Obama in effigy. The only place to see anti-Obama protest signs would be at one of the Tea Party protests. And those depictions are pretty mild compared to the anti-war crowd’s depictions of Mr. Bush. There are very few signs condemning President Obama at any anti-war rally. The war is still there. People are still dying. The only difference is that the war changed parties. Most anti-war protesters are not anti-war so much as they are anti-republican. War is all fine and good with them as long as it’s being prosecuted by a Democrat.

Political discourse is often the exercise of hypocrisy to bolster the position of one’s political party. Republicans will endorse limited government and family values to get elected. Once they get elected they decide that they were only kidding about that whole Constitutional Republic thing and start sending obscene text messages to underage boys. Democrats will point the finger at evil warmongering Republicans and decry them as racists until after election season. Then they deploy thousands more troops into combat areas around the world while condescending to minorities as though they were children. It’s all a scam. All these people really want is to get elected and then systematically find new and creative ways to enrich themselves and their allies on the taxpayer’s dime. In 2010 the Republican party is geared up to try to take control of the House and the Senate during the mid-term election. If they succeed they will put an end to the current administration’s reckless deficit spending and we will finally see real change and fiscal responsibility in the Federal government…BWAHAHAHA!!!! I can’t believe you fell for that old trick again.

(Deep breath.)

photo credit: Renegade98

The quality of our representatives says a lot about what’s going on.  Just compare approval ratings to incumbency, then wait for your fucking head to explode.  It boggles the mind how we as a country consistently put our most corrupt and inept forward.  I say “we” because we are all responsible.  One thing that crosses political divides is the general consensus throughout the country that our elected representatives suck balls.  Even the supposedly good and honest politicians are unable to rise above the muck that is the United States Congress.  This isn’t news, though.  It’s no surprise when Congress fucks up.

The only thing that amazes me is when they’re able to set the bar even lower—so imagine my surprise when I heard about this: http://www.lvrj.com/opinion/are-you-serious-69740987.html.   Essentially, when asked what part of the Constitution grants Congress the authority to order Americans to buy health insurance, Speaker Nancy Pelosi promptly told the reporter who asked the question to fuck off.  Actually, her response was, “Are you serious?  Are you serious?”  She asked twice so that it would have that much more impact when she ignored the reporter.  See, she couldn’t just ignore the question outright—because that would imply that she was hiding, or was in some way embarrassed by a complete dismissal of the Constitution.   She wanted to make clear to everyone in attendance that she gives fuck all about some dipshit reporter, and silly questions about “delegated powers” and “Constitutional authority.”   The Constitution?  She has a framed copy on her wall.  Of course, it also says “to Serve and Protect” on the side of all cop cars…

Apparently, Nancy is taking the “it’s just a goddamned piece of paper” approach to interpreting the Constitution.  This isn’t surprising.   Most politicians’ view of the Constitution seems to be like most religious people’s view of the Bible.  It’s something they completely believe in and live their life by, but don’t bother reading.  A quick flip through should be good enough, but no need to go too in-depth.   You see, if you read either document it comes down to either rejecting it outright or having to live within the boundaries it creates.  Anyone who has read the Bible will realize that there are very few people who are willing to live within those boundaries.  Much like the Constitution, it didn’t allow people to do whatever they wanted.   A good example is a certain king and his commitment issues.  Want to get divorced, but the church tells you nope because it’s not in the Bible?  Say “fuck it” and make a new church. If you want to guess as to whether congressional representatives are staying within boundaries created by the Constitution, refer to Nancy Pelosi’s response.  Are you serious?  Are you serious?

Congress will swear on the Constitution and talk about its importance.  They will extol the greatness of America, the founding fathers, and that goddamn piece of paper.   Much like Christians and the Bible, however, if you ask them what it says or means they will tell you what they want from it, or what they want it to mean.  A good example comes from the op ed where I originally read all this. “Well, that’s under certainly the laws of the — protect the health, welfare of the country,” said Sen. Roland Burris, Barack Obama’s appointed replacement to the U.S. Senate, in answer to the same question.  As the writer of the article points out, the word health does not even appear in the Constitution.  It is Roland Burris, though.  On a side note, running into that jackass on the hill must be like running into an inbred kid at a family reunion.  He’s slow, annoying, and you don’t even want to think about the sin against nature that allowed him to come into existence.

Is it too much to ask that the people elected to congress read and understand the key document of our entire government?  It’s not like this is a remedial literature class at the local community college, and people can just pick up the cliff notes ’cause this shit won’t matter.  Want to know what reading the cliff notes will do?  It’ll turn a government based on a blend of republic, democratic, and even monarchial ideals into just a straight democracy.  By watching our government at work, you would think they had not even heard the word republic before.  Remember learning in high school about how the founding fathers, realizing that all forms of government were flawed, included several forms of government in our Constitution?  If you don’t, don’t worry about it—because chances are, the person speaking on your behalf doesn’t either.  I honestly wonder how many United States Senators realize that the US Senators were not always elected by popular vote.

Now this has absolutely nothing to do with the health care debate or political parties.  It’s not about who’s right or wrong.  It’s simply about the Speaker of the House not only refusing to answer a simple question about Constitutionality of legislation, but also being so dismissive and derogatory as to suggest that she is beyond questioning.  The sad thing is that there are probably Democrats feeling justified because of the treatment given out when the Bush administration was in power.  I know the Republicans are feeling vindicated because the Democrats are looking to be just as bad.  The losers are the vast majority, sitting in the middle, watching one side give away our rights because they’re scared of terrorists, while the other sacrifices them on the alter of altruism to assuage their conscience.  I’ve actually met people in favor of health care who admitted that it was probably going to be a colossal cluster fuck, but think we should do it anyway and fix it later.  This is probably a fairly common opinion.  Every time I see coverage, it’s about the bill passing, can the democrats get the bill through, will the republicans block the bill.  It’s like it’s a fucking football they are trying to jam up the middle so they can get a touchdown.

People who think that the Constitution is just a goddamned piece of paper that can be ignored at will should remember that being able to ignore parts means being able to ignore the whole.  People that say it’s outdated and ill equipped to deal with the modern world need to remember that there are built in ways to change it.  This was done because nothing is infallible or beyond the touch of time.  It’s also good that it’s hard to do, because it should not be an easy thing to give away people’s rights, or the protection of their rights.  When you agree to give away others’ rights and ignore the rule of law, you are giving away your own rights and the protection of the rule of law to whatever group happens to be in power.  So don’t be surprised when the wind shifts to put a new group of sanctimonious jackasses in charge, and you find yourself standing on a box, wearing only a black hood, with a Die Hard car battery hooked up to your happy place.  You know what?  Congress may be a group of college-educated tributes to nepotism, and I may be just some foulmouthed, semi-educated loser with an axe to grind; but I’m willing to say yes.  Yes, I am serious.

"Shrinks are usually even more fraked up than thier patients" ---Kara Thrace---

This last Thursday there was an incident which occurred at the U.S. Army base of Fort Hood in Texas. A lone gunman went on a rampage killing 13 and wounding 42. The gunman was an Army psychologist named Maj.Nidal Malik Hasan. During the shooting the Major was heard by witnesses as shouting “Allah Ackhbar” which is Arabic for “God is great so I’m going to kill as many of you as I possibly can.” In the aftermath of this the mainstream news media has been working overtime trying to make this attack to seem like the result of post-traumatic stress disorder. That’s pure comedy because Maj. Hasan had not even been deployed yet. Some argue that he somehow caught PTSD as an Army shrink treating soldiers who actually have been deployed. That’s patently absurd. PTSD isn’t the swine flu. It’s not a communicable disease. He was about to be deployed and had expressed his reservations about it. However, he also expressed admiration for Muslim suicide bombers and was known for attending a Mosque where he learned from the same Imam as the guys who carried out the September 11th attacks.

There seems to be compelling reason to believe that Nidal Hasan’s rampage was religiously motivated. And by “compelling” I mean obvious. If some guy started shooting up the local post office shouting “Jesus wants you to die” the mainstream news media outlets wouldn’t think twice about reporting on the religious component motivating such an attack. However, since the shooter was a radical Muslim, they don’t dare. After all, we don’t want to piss off the population of American Muslims. There might be riots like when the Dutch newspaper publish unflattering cartoons featuring the prophet Muhammad. The “religion of peace” gets mighty violent when someone blasphemes against them.

Mostly I think the real fear for the spineless weasels in the news media lies in potentially appearing to be intolerant. Bing labeled a racist in America is like being a leper in ancient times. You suddenly become a pariah. If you work for the news media or the entertainment industry you can kiss your career goodbye if such an accusation were to gain any credence. Racism accusations have become a lot like the accusations of witchcraft that were common 400 years ago. There didn’t need to be proof. The mere insinuation was all that was needed to earn someone a toasty spot on a pile of kindling. Because of this most news reporters are failing to point out the obvious fact that Major Hasan was a disciple of the radical Muslim ideology. This was why he shot up Ft. Hood. It wasn’t because he “just snapped” at the prospect of being sent to Afghanistan. If he didn’t want to be deployed he could have easily avoided it by shooting himself in the foot or showing up on base dressed in drag like Cpl. Max Klinger. He didn’t kill and wound all those people just to avoid deployment. He did it because his religion commanded it and no amount of politically correct whitewashing is going to change that. Now that Hasan is out of his coma and talking it should be interesting to see how the news people try to put a spin on him decrying them as kufar infidels.

"I think we've found the problem."

Yesterday I was reading the politics section of Craigslist in my home town to pass the time and there seemed to be a lot of “America: Love it or Leave it” kind of posts. To stir the pot a little I added my own post which I copied from this site to the discussion. Now I realize that looking for political discourse on Craigslist is a little like looking for a meal in a dumpster. You’d be certain to find something, but it’s probably not going to be very palatable.  The post I added was called “Get Out” and it was an indictment against those who seek to undermine the principles of liberty that the United States was founded upon in order to install their own vision of a collectivist utopia. I got one favorable reply from someone who appeared to be one of the typical Republican voters who visit that board. However shortly thereafter another reply was posted and reads as follows:

Amazing! You talk such BULLSHIT! You use words like Socialism, Communism, Marxism, Hitler? You seem to think the Constitution was written only for those who think like YOU?
Did you forget about Free Speech? Just because somone has a different opinion or philosophy than yours, you tell them to “Get Out”?
Maybe if you took the time to research the actual FACTS, and got the WHOLE STORY, BEFORE YOU MAKE JUDGEMENT, you could come to an INTELLEGENT CONCLUSION!
YOU ARE AN IGNORANT HYPOCRYTE! KISS MY ASS!
JUDGE LEST YE BE JUDGED!

Wow! All I can say is wow! For one thing I never mentioned Hitler, not even once. For another thing, after researching the facts it seems clear to me that my conclusions regarding the intent of the U.S. Constitution are in fact correct. I’m also a little unclear where the hypocrisy lies in my posting.

The irony which is probably completely lost on this individual is the fact that he writes “YOU ARE AN IGNORANT HYPOCRYTE! KISS MY ASS! JUDGE LEST YE BE JUDGED! ” How completely contradictory is that? First an accusation of being ignorant complete with a misspelling of hypocrite, followed by a holier-than-thou platitude about judgment. I couldn’t help but reply with the assessment that this person who was critiquing my work was a fifth-grade student with poor reading comprehension skills. His (or possibly her) reply to this is as follows:

There you go again. And what makes YOU so RIGHT about everything? Are you a “SUPERIOR BEING”? Does your shit smell like roses? Thinking that you know ALL about someone because their opinion is different than yours.
HA!
If I wanted to bother to “critique” I would have taken the time to really pick apart your BULLSHIT! But why waste my time. Your too much of an IGNORANT HYPOCRITE to understand. Open a Dictionary or a REAL History Book. (Try reading about the losers side)
Just because you have BASTARDIZED, Your Bible to say What YOU WANT, does NOT give you license to do the same to the CONSTITUTION.

Perhaps, if you could OPEN your CLOSED MIND? No, I think that may be asking too much for you to handle. I pull my pants on the same as anyone else, my blood is the same color as yours & my shit STINKS!
Continue to keep throwin out your BULLSHIT! and I’ll keep laughing at you. The joke is on YOU! Your too Blinded to see it.
“LOVE THY NEIGHBOR AS I LOVE MYSELF”

The irony is downright palpable. For one thing it is this person who thinks they know all about me simply because my opinion differs from theirs. I never mentioned the Bible, not even once. However this person has already made all kinds of assumptions regarding my theological leanings. As far as the dictionary comment goes, this persons sheer butchery of the English language with sentences like “Your too Blinded to see it. ” seems to indicate a much more pressing need for a dictionary on their part. However it is nice to know he loves his neighbor the same way he loves himself…with a bottle of hand lotion and the Victoria’s Secret catalog.

I suppose this should teach me a lesson about going on Craigslist to cast my pearls before swine.

"9-11 was an inside job!!!"

In case anyone has forgotten today marks the eighth year anniversary of the attacks that occurred on September 11th, 2001. For many of us this marks a day of remembrance, reflection, and grief. However, for the tinfoil hat brigade today is recruitment day. This is the day all the crazies come out of the woodwork to preach their paranoid fantasies in the faces of those who lost so much on that terrible day. Despite a complete lack of compelling evidence for these conspiracy theories, these zealots continue to profane the solemn ceremonies of those who still mourn in the aftermath of the September 11th attacks. Last year I penned an article which addressed the conspiracy nuts and their vile fantasies as being exactly that. I am posting that same article here today below the fold.

As many of you are obviously aware, today is “Patriot Day” (A.K.A. the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks). This terrible day precipitated what is now known as the “War on Terror”. Today my writing will be focused upon a different kind of war altogether here on the home front.

The war we face at home is the war for history. There is a growing movement that started within the online community as the “911 Truth” movement. This movement is predicated on wild conspiracy “theories” (as a scientist, I find the use of the word theory offensive as it relates to conspiracy myths) that the attacks which occurred on September 11, 2001 were planned and orchestrated by the U.S. Federal Government.

Of course I expect such rantings from paranoid, tinfoil hat-wearing, conspiracy-of-the-month cranks. These folks believe all kinds of crazy bullshit. Unfortunately the 9/11 conspiracy myth has been gaining acceptance among ranks of people who aren’t paranoid schizophrenics who have gone off their medication. Why is this? Simply put, paranoid, tinfoil hat-wearing, conspiracy-of-the-month cranks now have their own websites. They can make crappy, sensationalist “documentaries” and post them on You Tube for the entire world to see. If these websites and films are constructed artfully enough they may convince viewers who are willing to suspend their skepticism and critical thinking skills.

This 9/11 conspiracy nonsense has been thoroughly debunked by numerous experts in the fields of demolition, metallurgy, structural engineering, and fire safety. One would think this would nip this so-called “911 Truth” movement in the bud, but it hasn’t. Why is this the case? I can only speculate that the unpopularity of the current executive administration is fueling this paranoid nonsense. The events on that Tuesday morning seven years ago had a profound effect on the people of this nation. It was a senseless attack perpetrated by senseless people. As unsatisfying as that is, it is the truth. The “911 Truth” movement is a vehicle to appoint a scapegoat for those horrible events and the most convenient scapegoat is President Bush.

I myself am not a big fan of the current administration, but I refuse to let my distaste for President Bush and his policies impair my ability to think rationally. For starters, if there was a conspiracy behind the 9/11 attacks, there would have had to literally be hundreds of accomplices to pull it off. Ever try to plan a surprise party? It’s hard enough to get 20-25 people to keep that secret from one person for a few weeks. Try getting 4 or 5 hundred people to keep a secret about the cold-blooded murder of nearly 3,000 people from the entire world for SEVEN YEARS. I assert it cannot be done. Hell, the Watergate scandal was a perfect example of a government conspiracy. We all know how well that cover-up worked out.

Dylan Avery, a pimply faced high-school kid living in his mom’s basement, blew the lid off the so-called 9/11 conspiracy with his pseudo-documentary “Loose Change”. “Loose Change” is a film that outlines the 9/11 conspiracy and is the favorite recruiting tool for the “911 Truth” movement. I would submit however, that “Loose Change” is definitive proof that there was no government conspiracy. My reasoning behind this is simple. If there was a government conspiracy, it must follow that high-ranking officials within the military and other government organizations were willing to massacre nearly 3,000 innocent civilians to make this event happen and to cover up the truth. So it follows that these conspirators would have no qualms killing off some pimply-faced high school kid and taking down his website. If the conspiracy is real, why is Dylan Avery still breathing? He could have been killed and his website could have been taken down long before anyone even took notice of him. The fact that he’s alive and his “documentary” has been downloaded by millions of people proves the conspiracy is hogwash.

So why is this important to me? It’s important because when false, alternative histories are being circulated, it sullies the memory and grief of those who lost so much on that day. Conspiracy nuts don’t care about that. Their own narcissism and self-importance is all that matters. These people get off on tragedy finding ways to warp it to fit their twisted world view. As far as they see it, they are elite heroes who see a truth that only a few people can accept. It’s the sad ego centrism of those who have accomplished little but feel entitled to a sense of self-importance. The events that occurred on September 11, 2001 mark a tragic day in our history. We should not let the egos of a few paranoid nuts be the basis for which history remembers that day.

Here are some links to these tinfoil hat-wearing narcissists.

http://911truth.org

(A popular site for conspiracy nuts)

http://www.infowars.com

(This site is run by paranoid whackjob Alex Jones. This guy is nuttier that squirrel shit. I almost feel sorry for him…almost.)

http://www.loosechange.com

(Not really a bad film for a pimply-faced high-school kid…even though its complete bunk.)

And here are some links shooting down their house-of-cards version of the 9/11 attacks.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/military_law/1227842.html

(From Popular Mechanics magazine, this article de-bunks the 911 conspiracy myth…and does so with college graduates)

http://screwloosechange.blogspot.com/

(A point-per-point debunking of “Loose Change”)

"Spend all you want. We'll print more."

For those who are following the latest in financial news, it has been widely reported that the President’s 800 billion dollar stimulus bill which was passed earlier this year is working. After all the stock market is up and businesses are showing profits. It seems on the surface things are looking up. However, there is very good cause to be skeptical. For one thing the jobless rate is at the highest level it has been in the last twenty six years. Another fact to consider is that the price of gold has climbed to nearly $1000 per ounce.

What does this information tell us? If the price of gold is rising, the value of the U.S. Dollar is in sharp decline. The 800 billion dollars that was spent by Washington merely created a bubble. This bubble will inevitably pop the same way the dot com and housing bubbles did in the past. This is not recovery, it is merely inflation. In the short term it may look like the economy is on the upswing, but that will be short lived as prices of goods and services rise to compensate for the weakening dollar. The elected officials in Washington D.C. probably understand this just as well as I do, but they aren’t interested in long term recovery. After all, election cycles run every two to four years. As long as the illusion of recovery can be maintained until 2012, the President can use his stimulus bill as ammunition for his re-election bid. After the election, the economy can go right back down the tubes for all he’d care. This would actually be eerily similar to the way his predecessor’s administration ended.

The U.S. economy is a lot like a heroin junkie. The economic collapse that befell us last year is akin to withdrawal symptoms. Like a junkie jonesing for his next fix, the economy was in bad shape. The 800 billion dollar stimulus bill was the metaphoric equivalent of a big shot of black tar right in the vein. Suddenly the junkie starts feeling better and is able to function. Everything seems fine for a while. However, once the high wears off, the junkie is in even worse shape than he was before he got his last fix. Now he needs an even bigger fix. This cycle continues on and on until the junkie ends up in rehab, jail, or the hospital due to an overdose. This will also happen with the economy. The stimulus bill temporarily staved off the symptoms of the recession, but eventually these symptoms will be back with a vengeance. I fear eventually our economy will die of an overdose of counterfeit stimulus money.

Instead of focusing on a more permanent solution, politicians from both major political parties seem more interested in throwing insane amounts of the taxpayers’ money in the direction of failed businesses and quasi-governmental agencies in hopes of temporary relief. The relief is always short-lived and usually leads to an even graver financial situation. Is the stimulus really working? No. Real economic recovery is not marked by record unemployment and massive inflation. This reality will manifest itself soon enough. The question is will it manifest itself in time for the next election cycle, or will the incumbent politicians be able to use this phantom recovery to their political advantage. I for one hope reality beats them to the punch.