19
Aug
I love Snopes.com. No telling what you’ll find there. Humor, movies, sports, paranormal, extra-terrestrial, politics, you name it, it’s there. One of today’s stories involve an opinion piece written by Charley Reese in 1985.
Politicians, as I have often said, are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.
Everything on the Republican contract is a problem created by Congress. Too much bureaucracy? Blame Congress. Too many rules?
Blame Congress. Unjust tax laws? Congress wrote them.
Out-of-control bureaucracy? Congress authorizes everything bureaucracies do. Americans dying in Third World rat holes on stupid U.N. missions? Congress allows it. The annual deficits?
Congress votes for them. The $4 trillion plus debt? Congress created it.
To put it into perspective just remember that 100 percent of the power of the federal government comes from the U.S. Constitution. If it’s not in the Constitution, it’s not authorized.
Then read your Constitution. All 100 percent of the power of the federal government is invested solely in 545 individual human beings. That’s all. Of 260 million Americans, only 545 of them wield 100 percent of the power of the federal government.
That’s 435 members of the U.S. House, 100 senators, one president and nine Supreme Court justices. Anything involving government that is wrong is 100 percent their fault.
I exclude the vice president because constitutionally he has no power except to preside over the Senate and to vote only in the case of a tie. I exclude the Federal Reserve because Congress created it and all its power is power Congress delegated to it and could withdraw anytime it chooses to do so. In fact, all the power exercised by the 3 million or so other federal employees is power delegated from the 545.
All bureaucracies are created by Congress or by executive order of the president. All are financed and staffed by Congress. All enforce laws passed by Congress.
All operate under procedures authorized by Congress. That’s why all complaints and protests should be properly directed at Congress, not at the individual agencies.
You don’t like the IRS? Go see Congress. You think the Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms agency is running amok? Go see Congress.
Congress is the originator of all government problems and is also the only remedy available. That’s why, of course, politicians go to such extraordinary lengths and employ world-class sophistry to make you think they are not responsible. Anytime a congressman pretends to be outraged by something a federal bureaucrat does, he is in fact engaging in one big massive con job. No federal employee can act at all except to enforce laws passed by Congress and to employ procedures authorized by Congress either explicitly or implicitly.
Partisans on both sides like to blame presidents for deficits, but all deficits are congressional deficits. The president may, by custom, recommend a budget, but it carries no legal weight. Only Congress is authorized by the Constitution to authorize and appropriate and to levy taxes. That’s what the federal budget consists of: expenditures authorized, funds appropriated and taxes levied.
Both Democrats and Republicans mislead the public. For 40 years Democrats had majorities and could have at any time balanced the budget if they had chosen to do so. Republicans now have majorities and could, if they choose, pass a balanced budget this year. Every president, Democrat or Republican, could have vetoed appropriations bills that did not make up a balanced budget. Every president could have recommended a balanced budget. None has done either.
We have annual deficits and a huge federal debt because that’s what majorities in Congress and presidents in the White House wanted. We have troops in various Third World rat holes because Congress and the president want them there.
Don’t be conned. Don’t let them escape responsibility. We simply have to sort through 260 million people until we find 545 who will act responsibly.
It has now been updated and is being circulated substituting Nancy Pelosi and President Obama. Big whup.
Charley Reese is an idiot.
I say that because he’s falling into the most common cop-out there is in politics and he’s been around long enough to know better. Blame everyone else but yourself. None of those 545 people are annointed. None of them are born to their position. Not one single person is a demi-god or super-power. Not one came from another planet with divine guidance. Every single one of them asked you to send them there. And once you do, it’s generally for a long time if not for lifetime. The last two Congress’s seniority make-ups looked something like this:
| 110 | 111 | |||
| 50+ | 1 | 0.23% | 1 | 0.23% |
| 40-49 | 2 | 0.45% | 3 | 0.68% |
| 30-39 | 18 | 4.08% | 16 | 3.64% |
| 20-29 | 59 | 13.38% | 47 | 10.71% |
| 10-19 | 183 | 41.50% | 143 | 32.57% |
| 0-9 | 178 | 40.36% | 229 | 52.16% |
| 441 | 439 | |||
| Average | 12.47 | 11.17 |
In the 110th Congress, nearly 60% of the members have been there more than ten years. Once the Obama revolution of 2009 was over, 48% of Congress has been there more than ten years. The average seniority dropped one year on average. Two hundred and ten of those members of Congress have served more than a decade. That’s forty percent of Charley Reese’s 545. And you know what, that’s not even counting the Senate. The Senate’s a little different animal, they are there for six years a shot. Congress gives people a chance to decide if they like their Congress or not every other year. Now, you think I’m being harsh on Charley? It gets even worse. A big part of the Obama “revolution” is the fact that seven members died in office. That took out 105 years of seniority. If they hadn’t died, the numbers for the 111th would have mirrored the 110th. John Dingell, the most senior, is now 83 years old. He has been in office for 54 years. That wouldn’t be so bad in my opinion but his district is Detroit, Michigan. Are those people happy with how things have progressed since 1955? Must be, they keep electing him. Bob Byrd is now 92 years old. He has represented West Virginia since 1959. In 1959, West Virginia had one of the worst economies in the country. Fifty years later, it still is with the fifth highest poverty rate in the country. Are West Virginians happy with that? They must be, they keep electing him.
My opinion is, people just don’t want to spend the time to examine candidates. That folks, is laziness. That is why most of the Congressmen, the Senators, and sometimes the President, don’t have to worry so much about what you think. The Democrat Party ran against the 109th Congress and the Republicans who controlled it purely on the irresponsible spending, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, out of control budgets, an economy that wasn’t up to their expectations, and corruption. Since that group took over, they’re throwing money wildly at everyone, still fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, budgets that are unfathomable, a collapsing economy, and several corruption scandals.
And you people keep voting the same ones back in office.
And Charley blames them.
If the public forfeits its right to choose, that’s not Congress’s fault. And, that is what allows all of Charley’s gripes to occur. Power corrupts when it’s absolute. In our case, it’s absolute through laziness.
A lot is being made over this:
I can see why. SOME folks in Arlington are saying they don’t think this represents their community. The question I have is, why not? Mayor Carmen is obviously very fit and healthy. That folks, is a good thing. The image I’m getting is folks in Arlington, OR, must be living right to look like that post-teen years. That’s certainly not what my mayor looks like. Now, if they had some morbidly obese mayor, I could understand the outcry a lot more. I wouldn’t want people to think that represented my town. And trust me, there are a lot more of those than the Carmens in office. I think the folks of Arlington need to chill out a LOT. They elected her, she most likely looked pretty much the same when she was running as she does now. And now that they all can check her out ready for a hot night on a fire engine, they should consider themselves lucky.
11
Dec
Here’s the headline:
Here’s the reality:
Although a fashion “statement” for the last twenty years or so, they look stupid. They make the wearer look even more stupid. I mean scary stupid. The impression I get is they are so stupid they can’t keep their pants up. That’s about as stupid as one can get. I don’t like being around people that stupid, intentionally or not. When I was that age, excess apparel was annoying and dangerous, often getting hung on very inappropriate things causing undo peril such as car doors and bicycle chains. Therefore, one learned by the age of, six or so, to keep the clothes close to the body. Obviously these people never figured that out. That’s scary stupid.
Now, I know you can’t ban stupidity. However, we can protect and do protect people through legislation. We make people not smoke in public. We make people wear seatbelts whether they want to or not. We therefore need to ban all saggy pants. Playboy doesn’t agree that resorting to laws since common sense and consideration for others isn’t working. However, if it gets this horrendous and obnoxious fashion statement off the streets and back into the dark alleys where it belongs, I’m all for it.
27
Oct
I have written a few times about Westboro Church. They are disgusting and abusing religion in the worst possible way. Well, one father of a slain soldier has had enough. Albert Snyder, father of Matthew Snyder, is suing Westboro for disrupting his son’s funeral. I am 100% in support of Albert’s lawsuit. However, he’s an average guy with somewhat limited resources and needs help.
You can help by going following this link.
Please do.
November 1, 2007 UPDATE: Snyder won his case! However, some are feeling that free speech advocacy might win out in the long run. However, this ain’t your typical free speech. This is verbal assaults intentionally aimed at the families of someone who has just died. Twenty-two states have placed limitations on these idiots because it so out of the expectations the Founding Fathers had in mind. They can say whatever the hell they please. But, there is no logical reason on this Earth that they should have the legal right to say it DURING and AT a funeral. None. Let them say it all day and night in Topeka Kansas. The Constitution does not guarantee the right to say what you want, WHERE you want. And, saying some things will get you in trouble. That’s already proven and accepted by the Supreme Court. Assaulting someone is not protected by the Constitution. Never has been.
18
Sep
Apparently Barry Manilow decided to take a stand. He will NOT perform on the same stage as Elisabeth Hasselbeck. Apparently he’s afraid he will suffer the same fate as Rosie. I find this tactic kind of strange considering he performed before Hasselbeck twice last year. He apparently stated something to the effect he felt Hasselbeck was dangerous. Now, he didn’t elaborate what was so dangerous about her. I’d like to know. Maybe the way she slew Rosie and tossed her off the show? Dunno. However, I’ve never been too terribly convinced Manilow was ever up for a good fight. So, hearing he’d rather run than face Elisabeth Hasselbeck face-to-face, mano-et-womano, doesn’t surprise me. And, is probably a smart move on his part. However, if I had wimped out like that, I think I would have kept it very quiet else people like me would be speculating about semblence of manhood Barry might have had. However, I’d hate to think I am the only person who ever got this impression. So, let’s take a poll, shall we?
Whoopi Goldberg replaced Rosie Odonnell on The View. Rosie being gone is a good thing because Rosie seemed to rely on rhetoric, stupidity, and generalizations as a basis for most of “the views”. However, Whoopi’s been known to drop some stupid bombs of her own in the past. Apparently not much has changed by replacing Rosie with Whoopi as Whoopi dropped this stupid bomb yesterday:
“from where he comes from” in the South, dogfighting isn’t that unusual.
OK, for starters, dogfighting is NOT that common here. I’ve never been to one, I’ve never even heard of one. There was some cockfighting going on when I was younger, but that sort of lost it’s glamour about twenty years ago around here. Now, it probably still happens, but it’s rogue idiots doing it, not anything organized or anything. And, if caught, they will go to prison and that’s the end of it. In simple terms, it’s as condoned here as whereever Whoopi lives now. Dogfighting’s the same. It may happen here, but it’s probably more likely to happen in Los Angeles than here. Simple math makes it so, there’s more people in Los Angeles than a lot of the South combined.
Some simple facts here for Rosie Whoopi:
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Some states have various aspects of dogfighting that are not prosecuted as felonies. Those are:
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Sponsoring a dogfight: Idaho and Wyoming
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Possessing fighting dogs: Georgia, Idaho, Nevada, New York, Texas, West Virginia, Wyoming
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Being a spectator: Alaska, Arkansas, California, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming.
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OK, the facts.
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As far as sponsoring a fight, 100% of the non-felony states are NOT “where he comes from”.
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As far as possessing fighting dogs, 71% of the non-felony states are NOT “where he comes from”.
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As far as being a spectator, 80% of the non-felony states are NOT “where he came from”.
So, her generalization that it’s not that unusual “where he came from” is not in the least bit by existing laws. Now, laws might not reflect prevelance, but it does reflect public sentiment most usually. Especially in regards to social norms.
If Whoopi needs more evidence it’s not a “where he’s from” exclusive activity, here’s a headline from a couple of weeks ago with some pretty impressive numbers:
78, read seventy-eight, people busted in one sting. That wasn’t Georgia, that was San Francisco, California. That’s not where Vick’s from, that’s a lot closer to where Whoopi’s from.
She’s relying on stereotypes and rhetoric. That’s the same crap Rosie did. Try researching an issue before spewing it on public television. This garbage is what has kept the United States divided, not the political candidates. And, by pointing the finger in one direction only, it allows the places that still do condone this activity to some degree to continue doing so since there’s no public heat to do anything about it. Apparently one of those places is Whoopi’s back yard.
Barbara, you could have done so much better than this. Whoopi is apparently very stupid too. It’s gotten so consistent of late it’s starting to make me think this is the company Barbara chooses to associate with. One thing that is common down here is the phrase “birds of a feather”. Know-what-mean, Barbara?
17
May
I wasn’t going to say anything about Falwell’s passing, but feel remiss for not. So, I’m gonna tackle it as best I can.
I have never been a fan of Falwell’s. Ever. When I was a small kid and he was on television, I either laughed at how inane he was, or just turned it before anyone could see it was even on long enough for me to figure what it was and flip the channel. Televangelists just annoy me.
However, if you go back to 1979, the country was in a state of flux. We had possibly the worst president of all time, definitely in my lifetime. We were still reeling from Vietnam. The Supreme Court was passing repeated very liberal opinions. The US was being held hostage by Iranians. The economy was in shambles. Gas was scarce and expensive. Things were basically just a huge mess. And, they were the result of very liberal and weak leadership. Although Jimmy Carter was a very religious man, his policies were perceived as being very liberal. The Republican Party was disorganized and completely lacking direction. The prospects going into 1980 were pretty bleak on both sides. Ronald Reagan had lost his primary in 1976 to Gerald Ford in a very tight primary that split the party even moreso than it had been already. Ted Kennedy was giving Jimmy Carter a fight for his political life when the hostage situation bailed Carter out. The events that caused the country to rally behind the flag would lead to complete and utter frustration. Things were bad and no one was stepping up to lead us in a new direction. Reagan was very upbeat and positive, but was relying on his economic philosophies to excite his voter base. And, it wasn’t working. Then, leading into the North Carolina primary, things changed. Senator Jesse Helms came out very firmly behind Reagan and brought all his organization and grass roots support with him. What that led to was Jerry Falwell organizing a new element in politics, televangelist driven voter drives. The ranks of Republican voters had steadily declined throughout the 60′s and 70′s. With this new social initiative, they suddenly swelled. With Reagan’s acting skills and speech making prowess, the Republican Primary of 1976 turned unexpectedly exciting with an obvious new element arising in the party. The Democrat Party was contentious and traditional. Although Reagan lost in 1976, by the time Jimmy Carter was sworn in, the whole country knew who our next president would be. It was just a matter of time. During that time Falwell continued to motivate young, conservative professionals to register Republican en masse. Millions of them joined the Republican Party. Whereas the Democrat Party had staked its future on the hippy generation, the Republicans were being reborn as the religious conservatives. And, these weren’t your typical conservatives. They were aggressive and outspoken. Just like their mentors. When Reagan won in 1980, Falwell was given a lot of credit. When Reagan was re-elected in 1984, Falwell was there with him. The Neo-conservatives had risen from nothing to national prominence in basically eight years. Thanks for the most part by the leadership of Falwell. Those who dared attack Falwell, as McCain did in 1984, lost. The Republicans were back in control, and would eventually regain the House and Senate briefly. Falwell and his followers were right there with them the whole way. When Clinton won in 1992, neither candidate really associated themselves with the Religious right. However, Falwell and the Religious Right went after Congress and the Senate. With that grassroots conservatism, the Republicans won both the House and Senate. In 2000, they’d get the White House as well. With the riches came the in-fighting that goes along with it. The Religious Right basically imploded and Falwell faded from the limelight amid a series of very intolerant quotes.
As I started with, I didn’t like Jerry Falwell. I don’t like what the Neos have done to my party. But, I do acknowledge that if they hadn’t, there wouldn’t be much left of that party. Reagan and the neophyte Neocons returned the United States to a strong two-party system, regardless of what I think. Maybe not for the right reason for me. But, the alternative was even worse.
And for that, Jerry Falwell does need to be recognized.
In most other countries, they don’t pander to political correctness quite the way we do here. Here is a perfect example of that:
This video was produced by the National Association for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect in Australia. It’s shocking, it’s unnerving. And, it’s accurate.
My buddies at Independent Sources took offense, sorta, upon stumbling upon this article:
Joe Redner, whos in a runoff for a city council seat, is offering free admission to his World Famous Mons Venus strip club when patrons show their I voted sticker at the door. The cover charge is usually $20.
There is a nice irony at play. A politician allowing their constituents a chance to cop a few feels before screwing them later.
Now, before we get too carried away with this, I need to give just a little background about where I come from, which is sorta like Tampa used to be. Now, in the old days here, and I imagine in Florida as well ( more than a week ago ), one of the preferred vote buying methods was to get someone "on the fence" a little tipsy, put them in the car, and go vote. Candidates with more money would get large vans and trucks. But, the bottom line was you HAD to have a pint of whiskey. It didn’t matter if they even drank whiskey or not. They would on election day. That was an expected tradition here up until very recently. Tampa’s a little more urban than here these days, I imagine that tradition ended longer ago than here. ( two weeks or more ) It’s illegal yaknow. Vote buying. For that matter, even drinking whiskey is illegal here in most parts. However, people tend to look the other way on the law during political seasons. So, along comes this guy in Tampa who doesn’t want to spend the money it takes to get elected and offers free passes to his strip club instead. Now, for reasons I prefer not to get into, I used to drop in Mons Venus occasionally. Now, this place is hell incarnate. Sure, the babes were naked. Sure, they looked great. But, get this, you couldn’t drink anything. Not one drop. So, what you did was run accross the street to the very conveniently located liquor store, slam a couple of shots of whatever you preferred, and then run back to the beautiful naked babes awaiting you. This just pretty much wore me out. Secondly, get this, it’s SMOKE FREE. It’s a place where men ( and a lot more women than you’d expect ), go to lust and sin in excess, but only within rigid guidelines. You can sorta have sex, but you can NOT drink alcohol or smoke tobacco. No sirree.
Now, this is where I tie all this together. In order to properly "buy" an election, you MUST provide whiskey. Not Sprite, not Dr. Pepper, not Fresca. It MUST be liquor, it MUST be strong, it SHOULD be whiskey. Secondly, once the dirty deed is done, you MUST share a smoke. A good screwin is always best when you’re just a little liquored up and followed by a toke. So, although Joe Redner’s schtick is creative, my guess is it will be meaningless because it won’t even provide the basic necessities of proper vote buying. And, if all you’re allowed to do is watch, you may as well just tell Joe to give you a free month’s online subscription so you can watch them at home, with a drink in hand, and a smoke.
THEN, we’ve got proper vote buying in action. I’d even be game. ( How many absentees can Joe send out before the election? )
The families of Ignacio Ramos and Jose Campean are in need of financial and emotional support due to their incarceration. I’m still a bit at a loss as to why these guys are even in prison, much less why President Bush has allowed this situation to continue. Grassfire.org is coordinating a fundraiser for the Ramos and Campeans so that their families need not suffer any more than they already are. Please help them out by going here and contributing.
