Bloomberg: The Capeless Crusader

Bloomberg: The Capeless Crusader

Bloomberg is a man who never sleeps, apparently.

His zeal for public health and safety is unabated, despite a resounding “No,” from the courts in response to his ridiculous legislation banning large cups and bottles of soda. Now, the “capeless crusader” has turned once again to the item which health crusaders attack most often and most viciously: cigarettes and other forms of smoking tobacco.

The Capeless Crusader: Tireless Defender of Everyone Else's Health
The Capeless Crusader: Tireless Defender of Everyone Else’s Health

Don’t get me wrong: I don’t endorse smoking, nor do I smoke. But neither do I endorse the government-funded war on smoking. My reason for this is simple: smoking is not healthy, it’s true. But neither is eating too much. And the zealots are already turning toward overeating as their next crusade, starting with a seemingly innocuous requirement that restaurants post calorie content of each menu item. Today, require caloric content to be posted. Tomorrow, completely ban the food items that are the unhealthiest.

All that aside, I think the Mayor’s actions speak for themselves. And they say . . .

And they say . . .

Well, what do you think?

Can’t Sleep? Post…

Yes, it’s true. Time Change Sunday caught me prepared for a change…don’t everybody fall over dead at once, now. Instead of feeling dead to the world, tired, and ready for a good night’s sleep, I’m wide awake and suffering a mild case of insomnia. šŸ˜›

So, not wanting this time to be a complete waste I hop on the ‘net and find…..

A refreshing dose of sanity.

South Dakota is now my favorite state. Well, almost. NC is still my favorite.

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Go on…you know you want to…

Oh, and by the way, South Dakota Legislature? I came up with the idea.

Now, about those royalties….

That's right. I'm gonna ". . . make you an offer [you] can't refuse."
That’s right. I’m gonna “. . . make you an offer [you] can’t refuse.”

Poem: God Give Us Men!

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An American Statesman — Senator Rand Paul

In honor of Senator Rand Paul (and his recent filibuster), here is an incredibly relevant poem that is a prayer for men who aren’t afraid to lead. There are several lines that stood out to me as readily observable characteristics of this man among boys in Washington, but I will leave the entire poem in original form, invite you to read it (it’s quite brief), and then comment and tell me which lines you saw that reminded you of something about this statesman.

God give us men! A time like this demands

Strong minds, great hearts, true faith, and ready hands;

Men who the lust of office does not kill;

Men whom the spoils of office cannot buy;

Men who possess opinions and a will;

Men who have honor; men who will not lie;

Men who can stand before a demagogue

And damn his treacherous flatteries without winking!

Tall men, sun-crowned, who live above the fog

In public duty and in private thinking;

For while the rabble, with their thumb-worn creeds,

Their large professions and their little deeds,

Mingle in selfish strife, lo! Freedom weeps,

Wrong rules the land and waiting Justice sleeps.

— Josiah Gilbert Holland

Brief, but powerful–and laden with commentary on our day, even though it was written over a hundred years ago.

Do you see any characteristics of Senator Rand Paul in this poem? Do you disagree with my classification of him as a statesman?

Post-Sequester Whiplash

The sequester has taken effect, and the President continues to pitch a fit. According to a recent article, the White House will cease all tours after this week, citing the sequester as the reason for the cutback.

whitehouse_exterior_030413.jpg
Well, no tour for the kiddos this spring break….

Oh, please.

You can’t find any better way to deal with the situation? As the author of the above-referenced article correctly states, this brings to mind petty and childish behavior (“I’m gonna take my ball and go home.”). Instead of causing “alarm to the children” by closing the White House right before spring break, why not do something meaningful to help save the money the sequester is supposed to take out of the budget? Something like–oh, I don’t know–cut out a few rounds of golf? Or drop one of those garishly expensive vacations from the Imperial schedule? (Ahem! excuse me, the Presidential schedule.)

"If we're not playing my way, I don't wanna play at all!!"
“If we’re not playing my way, I don’t wanna play at all!!”

And as for the closure causing alarm to the children: really now? Because a few kids will have their feelings hurt because their every whim isn’t granted this spring break, we’re supposed to cave on fiscal responsibility and do away with this drop in the bucket of a cut to the projected spending increase?

What the sequester really looks like. Notice that the cuts don't even change the slope of the line.
What the sequester really looks like. Notice that the cuts don’t even change the slope of the line.

Mr. and Ms. Plutocrats of the Potomac, y’all remember something: you work for me. And your constituents. And we have a new order of operation for y’all:

Give us a break . . . We’re not as dumb as you think we are.

Here’s what the politicians have been screaming would happen if the sequester took effect: riots in the streets. Millions without proper food as meat spoiled for lack of USDA inspectors to verify its quality. Hundreds of thousands realizing that their children would not receive as much help at school as thousands of teachers would be laid off. Tens of thousands of first responders (police officers, paramedics, and firefighters) laid off, resulting in less effective crime control, accident response, and fire-fighting capabilities.

In short, the end of the world. Total chaos. Widespread panic.

I see dead people....walking!
I see dead people….walking!

Thousands rushed to the stores to stock up on bread, milk, eggs, meat, frozen goods, and tofu. The manufacturers of these commodities smiled and raked in the cash, silently thanking the Good Lord above for Obama’s imbecilic and childish portrayal of the sequester as the end of the world, laughing in their sleeves as they collected from the people foolish enough to buy into the hype.

You’ve heard of post-Christmas syndrome (when someone goes on a credit card binge and then gets the bill in January: “I spent HOW MUCH?!?!?”)? Well, there’s a new post- syndrome in town:

Post-sequester syndrome.

depressed
Good thing you bought six months’ worth of groceries, bro…

For those of you who may know someone suffering with this painful condition, remember: gentle compassion is the best antidote. Try to put yourself in the person’s shoes, see how the “extremely persuasive” rhetoric could have induced the panic, and sympathize with them as much as possible. I sure hope you’re not reading this post while you’re near them:

You need to do your laughing in private. Okay?

Here’s to surviving yet another crisis!

2012-06-09-Sky-is-falling
Uh-duh!

Planning for Success in Difficult Times

Government intervention, the President and current administration tell us–daily–is the way that we will achieve our goals for the future.

There are many reasons to take exception to this statement. Some of the more obvious (at least to me): First of all, what happened in the years before the modern government existed? How did people even survive, let alone thrive, in the absence of the vast resources available from the current government programs? Second, why so many people telling us, to the point of shouting down any dissenters, that this is THE ONLY WAY to do business in today’s world? Third, toward whose goals are we pressing, again? Fourth, what makes you (the progressives) so sure that “everybody” wants what you do?

Just a Thought: Independent men built this country...not bureaucrats.
Just a Thought: Independent men built this country…not bureaucrats.

One of the email newsletters to which I subscribe is titled “The Morning Jolt” and features bold headlines and news that will “set your blood to simmer[ing],” as the author wrote in February 13, 2013’s edition. This daily imprint features Jim Geraghty’s thoughts on a number of subjects, and he is usually dead-on in his analysis of current events. He is committed to combating the pervasive influence of the lovers of the “progressive agenda” (read “retrogressive suppression of independence”) for America.

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Jim Geraghty is a conservative political pundit and a contributing editor to The National Review

(photo credit)

One of the subjects he addresses head-on in the 2/13 edition of Morning Jolt is the rising cost of employing full-time workers here in the US. Written by Charles Hugh Smith, this article is worth reading because it addresses several factors (one of which is the return on investment consideration for employers [woefully under-discussed in the current climate]) influencing the economic stagnation which is so prevalent, and because it does so in such a well-written format that there is no need for this author to reinvent the wheel. šŸ˜‰

Geraghty quotes extensively from the article cited above, and then offers a few words of his own on this subject:

“In short, the unemployed, the departed-the-workforce, the just-entered-the-workforce and soon-to-enter-the-workforce cannot be sufficiently productive to justify the expense of hiring them. And we know this pretty much has to be true, because corporations are sitting onĀ roughly $1.7 trillion in cash right now [according to a recent article from one of the blogs of the New York Times, apparently. I (Dave here) was not able to follow this link to research it.]. It’s not that they don’t have the money to hire people. They just don’t think that hiring people would generate more money than having it just sit there in their accounts, which is a phenomenally depressing conclusion.”

That’s pretty simple, and it’s pretty clear, too. Excessive and punitive regulation has driven the cost of adding new workers so high that it has exacerbated the underemployment of the younger and (usually) less-experienced members of the workforce. Why do I say that it has made this problem worse, rather than “excessive regulations haveĀ caused underemployment of the young?” Because this underemploymentĀ is caused by the understandable predisposition of employers to hire more experienced workers, rather than younger workers who require more investment (time to train, money to pay minimum wages, benefits, etc.) and less return for said outlay.

In other words, the employer is made slightly worse off by being forced to be more choosy in who he hires; or, alternatively, by being forced to buy machinery to automate what a minimum-wage worker would otherwise do. The potential minimum-wage worker, however, is made much worse off: not only is he robbed of the opportunity to work for minimum wage, he is also (often) denied the opportunity to work and gain experience that would qualify him for more appealing, better-paying jobs.

As one of the young and underemployed, I know whereof I speak. A six-month job hunt–during which I have aggressively sought employment by repeated phone calls, in-person submissions of my resume, and face-to-face introductions–has resulted in only one interview.

Am I complaining? No, I’m simply pointing out that I understand (from personal experience) how tough it is to find a job in today’s depressed economy.

While punitive (from an employers’ perspective) regulation is certainly a key factor, to say that it is the sole variable in this complicated problem would be to commit an unforgivable oversimplification.

I cannot in the scope of this article address every economic factor that contributes to the high unemployment rate among young workers; however, I believe there are two surpluses, surpluses that go largely unaddressed in the current discussion on the unemployment rate, that play a critical role in this phenomenon.

The first surplus is the result of education. More and more, we see students entering liberal arts colleges pursuing majors such as Twelfth-Century Poetry, Ancient Literature Interpretation, and Underwater Basket-Weaving. (Ok, I made the last one up, but you get the idea.) Even students in fields that, a few years ago, featured robust demand are seeing a dramatic drop in employment opportunities. This decrease has affected not only “soft” majors such as the ones above, but “not-so-soft” majors like liberal arts, communication arts, art, and others. Geraghty wrote a very insightful paragraph in his February 13 “Morning Jolt” column:

“Folks, the art world and publishing world are fiercely competitive even in the very best of times, so you’re going to need a backup career just in case things don’t work out. This also applies to those who aspire to fame and fortune in journalism, professional athletics, the music industry, most of the entertainment industry, and most of the jobs that the world covets. You’ve got to be really talented, and really hard-working. And yes, lucky. I realize I’m very, very, very, very lucky to have a job that I (usually) enjoy and that allows me to make a living. Of course, I suspect those outside those fields overestimate the role of luck. My buddy Cam — now on theĀ Sportsman Channel!Ā — will periodically hear from someone, ‘Boy, you’re really lucky to find a job where you get to host a radio show!’ and he has to bite his tongue and refrain from mentioning all the years he worked as reporter and assistant news director, driving all over the state of Oklahoma on any assignment he could get, long hours, lousy pay, and so on.”

He also makes a very pithy, observant statement: “Nobody just hands you a plum job in journalism.” Truth! It may shock some college students to realize that nobody “just hands you” any plum job. Most of the plum jobs in the world go to those who have busted their behinds for it.

Is that fair?

Before you answer that, stop and think about how you would feel if you spent ten years of your life working at any job you could find in your chosen profession, striving for that “dream job,” only to see it handed to some fresh-faced newbie fresh off the education assembly line because they “deserved it.” How would that make you feel?

Yeah, you’re right…there are two sides to every coin.

The second surplus is the result of a lack of practical education. Increasingly, college graduates are sorely lacking in portable skills that can only be obtained by personal contact and interaction with people. Why is there such a deficit of ordinary, everyday interpersonal skills? Again, the answer is too long and complex for a post of this length, but some contributing factors are the increasing obsession with screen media, the widespread revolt against traditional values, and the epidemic, not of illiteracy, but of a-literacy.

According to Susan Jacoby’s book The Age of American Unreason, published in 2008, only 57 percent of the American public has ever read a non-fiction book. Making a logical assumption that some people’s only non-fictional exposure is from required reading for school, the number of people who read non-fiction books from personal desire is quite possibly substantially smaller. This is relevant to the discussion at hand, precisely because readers are better equipped than non-readers to follow, evaluate, and process a complex train of thought in a logical fashion.

In education, as in many other areas of life, many Americans have forsaken personal responsibility for the convenience of “pre-packaged” curriculum. Some seem to think that if it’s not taught in school, or required reading for one of their classes, it’s just not worth the time it would take Ā read about it.

It’s heartbreaking to see education of all types going to ruin here in the States. It’s particularly sad when one considers the historical successes of the “self-made man,” the man who educated himself–outside the scope of the marbled halls and manicured lawns of the university–at great expense of time and effort, and built a business, a trade, a living, and (for more than a few) a fortune. The current scoffing at those who have made their living in this way reflects the near-idolatrous regard many hold for the “almighty college degree.” Current disdain notwithstanding, self-education–as with many other forms of self-reliance–is a phenomenon that is disproportionately represented in the United States. Freedom to keep the proceeds of one’s efforts truly is the greatest encouragement to innovation and initiative.

In short, government intervention of all sorts into employment contracts is fraught with examples of stagnation following efforts taken for the (expressed) purpose of producing greater economic growth. In every case, more government intervention and regulation resulted in LESS growth, not MORE as the politicians predicted. The brighter tomorrow our elected officials pay lip-service to will only come about by a return to the truly American principles of independence, self-education, individual choice and liberty, personal responsibility, and self-governance.

 

Piers Gets Angry (and Incoherent)

Piers Morgan has done more harm than good to the anti-gun cause with his logically bankrupt tantrums. Now, he strikes again, trying to take on two women who had the nerve to disagree with him on the issue of gun control.

Notice how Morgan repeatedly tries to personify the weapons (and notice how Dana Loesch doesn’t let him slide). This is the classic argument of the left: Guns kill people. Well, no, Mr. Morgan, they don’t.

Also notice how Morgan takes a page from the Biden playbook and constantly interrupts and disrupts his opponents’ speech. And the headline dares to call this a debate? This is a shouting match, and if volume is the indicator of a poor performance, Piers is losing handily.

"I just don't like what you're saying, so shut up, shut UP, SHUT UP!"
“I just don’t like what you’re saying, so shut up, shut UP, SHUT UP!”

“It makes me sick.” What? Who cares how it makes you feel? Why are we supposed to accept that as a substitute for fact in believing your argument?

Sorry, Piers, I’m not convinced.

NOT an Option: Inescapeable Reality

NOT an Option: Inescapeable Reality

CNN is running sob stories about government agents who could “lose their jobs” if the sequester cuts take place as scheduled. The crisis-monger-in-chief is in full voice in his latest campaign against, of all people, himself. The media and the President would love for us to forget that the sequester cuts were the brainchild of the Obama White House, but we haven’t dis-remembered, have we?

This, as Boehner correctly claims (whatever you may think of Boehner overall, he is right here) is the only way to get this administration to even consider cuts to spending. This is because the President correctly believes that if more people are on the assistance rolls, more people will vote for the administration that allowed them to get on the government dole. That’s the ugly truth.

The other ugly truth is that the recipients of this “domestic aid” are more likely to process arguments on the basis of emotion, rather than logical merit. This means that these sob stories in the news, that cause some to snort in disgust, are causing widespread panic among the progressive voter base. It’s important to remember that this is a 2-3% reduction of projected spendingĀ (not current spending, what weĀ said last year that we would spend this year) thatĀ is causing this much sound and fury. The current media frenzy and month-long love-fest with the White House proves that the President is not committed to any meaningful action to encourage bi-partisan-ism; rather, he is still committed to what has become hisĀ modus operandi: governing by using crisesĀ (many of them manufactured) to broaden government intermeddling with the everyday affairs of American citizens.

What the sequester really looks like. Notice that the cuts don't even change the slope of the line.
What the sequester really looks like. Notice that the cuts don’t even change the slope of the line.

 

Yes, the sequester is–as Boehner put it–a messy, “meat-ax” of a way to cut spending. But it’s also necessary. It is not, as the media is hysterically screaming, the end of the world, or even of the nation. In a world gone crazy, it’s important to remember that denying the cost of something doesn’t do away with the cost…just your awareness of it. It’s also interesting to wonder: if a tiny reduction of future spending causes this much furor, might not any meaningful cuts be protested by full-scale riots in the streets?

America is heading–seemingly deaf, and half-blinded by lustful selfishness–in the wrong direction, and only an act of God will bring it back.

Let us pray….

The Other Side of the History of Gun Control

1890 -- The Wounded Knee Massacre
1890 — The Wounded Knee Massacre

I know I’ve said a lot about the issue of gun control over the last few months. I’m also aware the news is full of stories about gun violence and the need to “do something” about it. Usually, the ones feeding us these reports are the ones lecturing us that the government really needs to do something about this important issue.

There are two things to remember. The first is that the Second Amendment was not drafted to give Americans the right to own guns for hunting or other sporting purposes. The Second wasn’t even drafted to give Americans the right to own weapons for self-defense. Freshly released from the bondage of tyranny, the men who founded this country wrote the Second AmendmentĀ to give the people the right to own weapons to defend themselves from any tyrants. This, of course, extended to the government, should those in charge forget their office as public servants of the people, and begin to attempt to run rough-shod over the personal property and rights of the people under them.

The second thing to remember is that the Constitution is the supreme law of the land. The Bill of Rights encapsulates several of those “…certain, inalienable rights…” that each of us has been “…endowed [with] by [our] Creator…” The Constitution clearly spells out the process for amending its provisions. Until such a process has been followed on this matter, any “law” that is passed to ensure we take the “morally defensible” “high road” is neither law nor morally defensible nor the high road to anywhere. Except perhaps The Pit. Or possibly Europe.

Of course, there are many things that these statements skim right over, including the redefinition both of the Constitution’s meaning (think “original intent”) and the rights of the American people (think “universal health care,” “too big to fail,” and “welfare.”) . I don’t want to get bogged down with a technical discussion of these matters now…look for more in later posts.

What I do want to do is share an important bit of history with you, my readers. Some of you may not be aware of the event to which I refer. I know I wasn’t before I read about it on a friend’s Facebook wall. While I know that not everything on Facebook is true, I verified this and it is an actual historical event. A Google search renders several good entries, including this excellent article at History.com:

History.com–Wounded Knee Massacre

The following originally shared on Facebook by Jerry Howe

A LITTLE HISTORY TO THINK ABOUT:

December 29, 2012 marked the 122nd Anniversary of the murder of 297Ā Sioux Indians at Wounded Knee Creek on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. These 297 people, in their winter camp, were murdered by federal agents and members of the 7th Cavalry who had come to confiscate their firearms ā€œfor their own safety and protectionā€. The slaughter began after the majority of the Sioux had peacefully turned in their firearms. The Calvary began shooting, and managed to wipe out the entire camp. 200 of the 297 victims were women and children. About 40 members of the 7th Cavalry were killed, but over half of them were victims of fratricide from the Hotchkiss guns of their overzealous comrades-in-arms. Twenty members of the 7th Cavalry’s death squad, were deemed ā€œNational Heroesā€ and were awarded the Medal of Honor for their acts of [cowardice] heroism.

We hear very little of Wounded Knee today. It is usually not mentioned in our history classes or books. What little that does exist about Wounded Knee is normally a sanitized ā€œOfficial Government Explanationā€. And there are several historically inaccurate depictions of the events leading up to the massacre, which appear in movie scripts and are not the least bit representative of the actual events that took place that day.

Wounded Knee was among the first federally backed gun confiscation attempts in United States history. It ended in the senseless murder of 297 people.

I don’t normally break up a block-quote, as you know, but let that sink in. Nearly THREE HUNDRED PEOPLE. Murdered. For obeying theĀ law.

Before you jump on the emotionally charged bandwagon for gun-control, take a moment to reflect on the real purpose of the Second Amendment, the right of the people to take up arms in defense of themselves, their families, and property in the face of invading armies or an oppressive government. The argument that the Second Amendment only applies to hunting and target shooting is asinine. When the United States Constitution was drafted, ā€œhuntingā€ was an everyday chore carried out by men and women to put meat on the table each night, and ā€œtarget shootingā€ was an unheard of concept. Musket balls were a precious commodity and were certainly not wasted on ā€œtarget shootingā€. The Second Amendment was written by people who fled oppressive and tyrannical regimes in Europe, and it refers to the right of American citizens to be armed for defensive purposes, should such tyranny arise in the United States.

As time goes forward, the average citizen in the United States continually loses little chunks of personal freedom or ā€œlibertyā€. Far too many times, unjust gun control bills were passed and signed into law under the guise of ā€œfor your safetyā€ or ā€œfor protectionā€. The Patriot Act signed into law by G.W. Bush, was expanded and continues under Barack Obama. It is just one of many examples of American citizens being stripped of their rights and privacy for ā€œsafetyā€. Now, the Right to Keep and Bear Arms is on the table, and will, most likely be attacked to facilitate the path for the removal of our firearms, all in the name of ā€œour safetyā€.

This is the crux of the matter. Once we elevate safety as king, above freedom, we will always,Ā always, ALWAYSĀ surrender our freedom and our rights so that we can be “safe.” In reality, however, this is like the appeaser in Churchill’s famous illustration. He “…feeds the crocodile, hoping it will eat him last.” Safety, as it turns out, isn’t really all that safe. Back to the text:

Before any American citizen blindly accepts whatever new firearms legislation that is about to be doled out, they should stop and think about something for just one minute-

Evil does exist in our world. It always has and always will. Throughout history evil people have committed evil acts. In the Bible one of the first stories is that of Cain killing Abel. We cannot legislate ā€œevilā€ into extinction. Good people will abide by the law, and the criminal element will always find a way around it.

Evil exists all around us, but looking back at the historical record of the past 200 years, across the globe, where is ā€œevilā€ and ā€œmalevolenceā€ most often found? In the hands of those with the power, the governments. That greatest human tragedies on record and the largest loss of innocent human life can be attributed to governments. Who do the governments always target? ā€œScapegoatsā€ and ā€œenemiesā€ within their own bordersā€¦but only after they have been disarmed to the point where they are no longer a threat. Ask any Native American, and they will tell you it was inferior technology and lack of arms that contributed to their demise. Ask any Armenian why it was so easy for the Turks to exterminate millions of them, and they will answer ā€œWe were disarmed before it happenedā€. Ask any Jew what Hitlerā€™s first step prior to the mass murders of the Holocaust was- confiscation of firearms from the people.

Wounded Knee is the prime example of why the Second Amendment exists, and why we should vehemently resist any attempts to infringe on our Rights to Bear Arms. Without the Second Amendment we will be totally stripped of any ability to defend ourselves and our families. [emphases mine]

Don’t tell me. I’m not crazy; I’m not demented; I’m not a bitter, clinging gun owner; I’m not a sociopath. I’m one of 280,000,000 gun owners who didn’t kill anybody yesterday.

So don’t tell me any of that.

Stop....Just Stop.
Stop….Just Stop.

I’m a peaceable, law-abiding citizen who believes that I’m commanded by God to follow the rules that the government lays down. However, I also believe that when the government lays down laws that contradict the supreme law of the land (the Constitution), and my life (the Bible), I must obey God rather than man.

The facts are in, and they are clear. The gun control presently in effect is neither controlling guns nor reducing crime. It is simply increasing the likelihood that a law-abiding citizen will become the next victim of a homicidal maniac with a gun. This is because criminals (hope you’re sitting down) don’t follow laws. That’s why we call them criminals. Okay?

One more thing: The criminals that commit gun crimes?Ā Most of them use guns stolen or otherwise acquired illegally.Ā This renders null and void the argument that registration will make it easier to locate the criminal in a firearms-related incident. It will simply enable law enforcement to trace the weapon back to the (often-unsuspecting) legal owner. This means more headache for the law official and the law-abiding citizen.

Gun control is pawned off on us as the moral high ground. A baser lie has never been told! I’ll put it to you simply: Advocacy for gun control is the belief that a woman being found in an alleyway, brutally raped, and strangled with her own pantyhose, is somehow morally superior to that same woman explaining why her would-be attacker is lying dead on the pavement with seven (or eight) bullets from a large-caliber handgun lodged in his chest. In other words, the murder of this lady is more justifiable (or more appealing?) than that lady shooting the sicko who would seek to debauch her.

Before you accuse me of being vile or using reprehensible imagery to promote my point, let me remind you that we are talking about criminals and violent crimes, two vile and reprehensible subjects if there ever were any.

Two parting thoughts:

One. If the leftists control the moral high ground, as they repeatedly claim, why do they use morally reprehensible language and tactics to defend it? (After all, the conservatives aren’t the ones stealing elections, overturning cars, throwing pies, and taking baseball bats to those who disagree with their views.)

Two. Gun control is not legislation to make it more difficult to own and use guns in self-defense against attackers (be they rapists, home invaders, common burglars, or government agents). Gun control is using two hands, taking time to practice and prepare, knowing your weapon and your capabilities with said weapon, and consistently hitting your target.

Gun control is you. In control of your weapon.

That says it all.
That says it all.

Retired Marine Absolutely Owns CNN Anchor on 2nd Amendment: Unconstitutional Laws Aren’t Laws

This Mr. Boston has seen more of the world and more combat than I, and he says it so well. With the impregnable calm of one who has been into a live-fire zone and walked away from it, Joshua destroys the appeal to authority argument that the anchor tries to bring into the discussion, and then (4:08), the bombshell: “Unconstitutional laws aren’t laws.”

Pin-drop silence; then, predictably: “Ok, we’ll leave it at that.”

I’m sure you will try to “leave it at that.” But I, for one, want to be sure this story gets out.

People are starting to wake up. To read the documents framed by the Founders of this country, and to read them with eyes open to theĀ original original intent. To interpret the laws, not according to the prevailing vision of the day, but according to what they actually say. This is not what the intelligentsia want, and they are scrambling to maintain their stranglehold on the intellect of the American people.

But a sleeping giant awoken is impossible to contain.

Folks, the media is not all that they would have us to believe. The Senators, Representatives, and others in Washington are not the anointed class they fancy themselves. They are not god-like, and their authority can and will be challenged if they do not follow the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, the ultimate law of the land to which all other laws must be subservient.

There is no reason why ordinary citizens cannot do what Mr. Boston has and challenge the assumptions of statists. Civil disobedience is not un-American; it is ingrained in our DNA from the very beginning. If you don’t know that, or if you think I’m blowing smoke, go read the REAL version of the Revolutionary War (and, for that matter, the Civil War). As you will see from this historical excursion, tyranny will not last long with an informed and armed population to oppose it.

Please, Mr. Government, May I Mind My Own Business?

Everywhere we turn, the government is there, helping to make the world a better place.

We’re better off now that government does so much to help us, the folks in Washington tell us. There’s no reason for all the furor, they have our best interests in mind…and they know better than us, anyway. Don’t we trust them?

In a word, no; and in two words, certainly not.

Government overreach, rebooted for your viewing enjoyment (for the progressives), or apoplectic rants (for everyone else).

Another attack on freedom...no sir, you may NOT plant those tomatoes there....
Another attack on freedom…no sir, you may NOT plant those tomatoes there….

(photo credit)

The article is here.

You have got to be kidding me.

Yes, I know that’s colloquial. No, I do not care.

This is ridiculous. These bureaucrats are trifling. This is as lame as a horse with five broken legs.

Yes, I know that doesn’t exist. No, I do not care.

At what point do we stand and say, “Give me liberty, or give me death”? Sounds a bit extreme, probably, and I can hear the detractors now:

That’s a ridiculous overreaction of a bitter partisan believer in massive conspiracy theories.

Not hardly.

Food is an integral and vital part of every person’s life. Without sustenance of some sort, you will die. If you eat the wrong type of food long enough, it will affect your health. Changing their diet has helped many people lose weight, gain confidence, build muscle mass and overall endurance, and feel better and more emotionally stable…..all without any other form of medicine!

Well, you might ask, what if “food-only medicine” people are wrong? If they are wrong, there’s nothing to lose. But, I ask you, what if they are right? If they are right, there’s much at stake!

What if, you query, you are wrong about the government overreaching its bounds here? If I’m wrong, there’s nothing about which to worry. But, again, what if I’m right? If I am, there’s much at stake here!

Including, it seems, one’s freedom to grow radishes, beets, turnips, kale, collards, carrots, squash, lettuce, tomatoes, and corn in the front yard in place of junipers, Japanese maples, clover, boxwood hedges, and other ornamental plants that really don’t have any practical use.