NFL Player Benjamin Watson’s Ferguson Facebook Post Has Gone Viral

This is perhaps one of the most thoughtful, response about the Ferguson situation. I hope and wish that more people read it, understand it and learn from it.

The Conservative Citizen

This week has been a difficult one for the nation. It is deeply divided over the state of race relations and whether the decision to not indict Officer Wilson in the death of Michael Brown was the correct one. Nationwide protests continue as the citizens of Ferguson MO attempt to put their lives back together after a horrific night of violence rocked their town.

There has been a lot of angry words and illogical screeds posted about the situation by all sides of this controversy. New Orleans Saints Tight End Benjamin Watson took to Facebook to share his thoughts on the subject as well. They have since gone viral and please share with me in the comment section below what you think of what he had to say.

“At some point while I was playing or preparing to play Monday Night Football, the news broke about the Ferguson Decision. After…

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The Price of Black Man’s Life

Sign in Ferguson as riots erupt.

This decision seems to underscore an unwritten rule that Black lives hold no value; that you may kill Black men in this country without consequences or repercussions. This is a frightening narrative for every parent and guardian of Black and brown children, and another setback for race relations in America.”

Congressional Black Caucus head Rep. Marcia Fudge

Ninety-three percent of blacks are killed by other blacks,” Giuliani said, triggering a heated argument on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “I would like to see the attention paid to that that you are paying to this.”

“Black people who kill black people go to jail,” Dyson said. “White people who are policemen who kill black people do not go to jail.”

“What about the poor black child that was killed by another black child?” Giuliani asked. “Why aren’t you protesting that?… Why don’t you cut it down so that so many white police officers don’t have to be in black areas?”

“When I become mayor, I’ll do that,” replied Dyson, exasperated.

“White police officers wouldn’t be there,” Giuliani said, “if you weren’t killing each other

Former Mayor of NYC Rudolph Giulani

Those two quotes or a variation of them pretty much encapsulate the debate about Michael Brown, Ferguson and the wider issue of blacks males, crime and the police. The issues are more complicated than those two statements assert but both are partially correct even if not exactly as the quoted intended.

The statistics for young black males are stark. Black males commit and are a victim of homicide at extremely disproportionate rate compared to White males or Asians. We can try to excuse it in a variety of ways but those facts remain. This is where the CBC head is correct, black lives have been cheapened. The acquittal of George Zimmerman in the Trayvon Martin case or the lack of charges by the Grand Jury in the Michael Brown case did not demonstrate that Blacks lives are cheaper, this has been demonstrated for years by ignoring the rampant deaths of thousands of Blacks at the hand of other Blacks for years.

Black people around the country are rioting for the last two days and had been holding protest since August because of the Michael Brown shooting by Officer Darren Wilson but have been silent for the 136 homicide victims in the St. Louis area.  Just last October 19th siblings, 35-year-old Margaree Dixson and 29-year-old Jermaine Jones, were killed by gunshot 2 hours and a few blocks apart.  They were homicide victims number 109 and 110, in a little over month almost 20 other homicides have been committed, few of these ever get solved.

A local news station reported last week that 73% of the more that 136 homicides this year remain open.  A case remains open until an arrest is made but in cases where arrests were made only 8% was there an actual conviction, last year. The same story is repeated nationwide in NYC, LA, New Orleans, around the country.  This is a problem, it not just that Black lives are cheap, is that no one wants to come forward and identify the perpetrators, and they know this. As Nicole Rice, the sister of the two siblings killed explains in the interview:

No answers, no answers, all my answers are to God, I don’t know nothing, I know people talk, and I have clues to what their talking about,” Rice said. I don’t blame the police because they’re doing everything they can do to find out what’s going on, If anyone knows anything, just what you heard, that would give a motive, It goes back to my little niece, well she’s really my cousin, but i call her my niece and her murder has never been solved so you ask me if my brother rand my sisters will be? No. Because no one will talk.

“Snitches get stitches” as DeAndre Joshua, 20 found out he was shot and killed on the first night of rioting. His body was found inside his car, which had also been set on fire. Though no official confirmation has been made, DeAndre fit the description of one of the witnesses that provided testimony to the Grand Jury that heard the evidence in Michael Brown’s case. He is also a close friend of the other person that was accompanying Brown that day, Dorian Johnson. Regardless of whether this was related to any testimony he may have provided or just a victim of opportunity for someone with a grudge against him, he has become just another statistic that will be forgotten in the aftermath of the Riots.

Ms. Fudge is correct that Black lives have been cheapened, they are continually being cheapened everytime that the community hides their criminals from justice. They are cheapened everytime that a riot is started because someone broke their monopoly on killing blacks. Especially when that person was in the act of committing a felony which led to their death. Black lives are cheapened when they excuse all wrong doing by blaming race, poverty or the “white establishment” for every ill in their communities. Children are held to a higher standard of conduct than the one of  many black criminals.

When the Black community celebrates and elevates a petty criminal like Michael Brown, or Trayvon Martin it only ensures that other young Black youths will follow in those footsteps. It also means that because they have been convinced that the law devalues them that they will continue to ignore the law and this never ending cycle will continue. The CBC and Ms. Fudge know this, that is why they are trying as they have done with the Educational system by trying to establish a separate system of grading and disciplining Black students to downgrade aberrant or illegal behaviour.

David P, Goldman describes what is happening with the CBC and the new civil rights movement as follows:

To restate the “civil rights” argument in a clearer way: Young black men are disproportionately imprisoned. One in three black men have gone to prison at some time in their life. According to the ACLU, one in fifteen black men are incarcerated, vs. one in 106 white men. That by itself is proof of racism; the fact that these individuals were individually prosecuted for individual crimes has no bearing on the matter. All that matters is the outcome. Because the behavior of young black men is not likely to change, what must change is the way that society recognizes crime itself. The answer is to remove stigma of crime attached to certain behavior, for example, physical altercations, petty theft, and drug-dealing on a certain scale. The former civil rights movement no longer focuses its attention on supposedly ameliorative social spending, for example, preschool programs for minority children, although these remain somewhere down the list in the litany of demands. What energizes and motivates the movement is the demand that society redefine deviancy to exclude certain classes of violent as well as non-violent felonies.

Which brings us to the quote by Giulani, perhaps ironically is the fact the CBC ( Congressional Black Caucus) were instrumental in pushing for passing legislation that called for more cops and stricter mandatory sentences in the late ’80’s and early 90’s.  During those days crime was rampant, drugs and gang warfare was taking a terrible toll on the communities that they represented. In those days the cries where not about police brutality (though it did exist), but for more cops, tougher sentences, loosening of forfeiture laws. The laws that were passed then did have their intended effect, crime now is at the lowest levels in 40 years but had an unintended effect of targeting criminals which were disproportianately Blacks young males.

Rather than addressing the causes of why young Black males are committing more crime, the civil rights movement and the CBC kept blaming racism and the Establishment for the failures of their own community to address this problem. They still ignore the issue, instead they elevate the violent assaults of Trayvon Martin and Martin Brown  as noble young black male martyrs.

Michael Brown assaulted a police officer and attempted to remove his gun,  what purpose does the supporter of Brown think he was trying to do this? If, this is true do you really want that person in your neighborhood, if attacking a police officer is not out of bounds for him, do you think that attacking someone else would have been? The answer I get when these questions are posed is that he was unarmed and did not deserve to die for stealing cigarillos, but this does not answer the question is just deflects it and since most do not have to live in Michael Brown’s neighborhood it would not affect them either way.

Golda Meir the former Prime Minister of Israel once said about the Palestinian and Israeli conflict:

Peace will come when the Arabs love their children more than they hate us (the Jews).

In many ways the Arab and Israeli conflict is a metaphor for the issues that afflict the Black community. A day will come when Blacks will love their children enough and value their lives enough to stop accepting violent or illegal behaviour as normal and start addressing those issues in their communities. When they realize that all Black lives matter, not just those few that die at the hands of non-Blacks and stop excusing themselves of the problem.

Here’s Police Chief of Milwakee-Police Chief Edward Flynn on the subject.

 

 

The New American Thugocracy

While I agree with Mr. McDaniel on the substance of his article, I disagree on some of the consequences he predicts for now. Two quick reasons, the EO only accomplishing in “officially” articulating what has been already public policy of this administration. The second reason is that it will not affect as many people as is has been claimed, for a variety of reasons but mostly due to another problem in our country, a bloated, inefficient government bureaucracy. You can read the new guidelines for the handling of illegals at:
http://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/14_1120_memo_prosecutorial_discretion.pdf

The issuing of work permits is separate and will post as soon as more information is available. As Mr. McDaniels adds in response to a comment;

“If Mr. Obama had actually considered immigration “reform” a matter of importance, he had two solid years with absolute control of Congress, yet he chose to do nothing. Thereafter, he said, in public, more than 20 times that he did not have the lawful authority to do what he has done. Now Mr. Obama is claiming he waited six years and just got impatient. His lips were moving, so he was lying.

Congress fails to do something the President wants? Too bad. That’s our system of government; that’s checks and balances. That’s lawful.

Congress fails to do something less than a majority of Americans want? Too bad. That’s lawful, and if the people don’t like it, they can vote them out. That’s lawful too. They had their chance on November 4, and they repudiated Barack Obama and cleaned house on the Democrats.

Obstructionist? That’s lawful too, and if the people don’t like it, they can vote them out. But let’s remember that the House has sent more than 300 bills to the Senate, where Harry Reid, surely acting under orders from Mr. Obama, has not so much as allowed a vote on any of them. The people didn’t like that and gave control of the Senate to Republicans, kicking Reid out. All completely lawful and within the Constitution.

Even if one likes what Mr. Obama has done–the result–the means are entirely wrong, unlawful, and harmful to America.”

Stately McDaniel Manor

On Friday, November 21, 2014, Americans rose from slumber in a new nation, a nation not conceived in liberty, nor dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.By the blatantly unconstitutional ruses of “prosecutorial discretion” and imperial impatience, President Obama has swept away any restraint on presidential whim. He now unquestionably rules by edict, and all Americans are no longer free men and women, but subjects liable to awaken tomorrow to find more and more of their liberty, their opportunity, their ability to live their lives as they choose, gone.

President Obama has thrown down the last, definitive card. If all of his previous usurpations of the powers of the legislative branch, if every instance of his demonstrated contempt for the very real and specific constitutional limitations on executive power were not enough, his immigration power grab has made it plain: if he gets away with it…

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I’m with Stupid —>

Keith Hennessey, has a great break-down on Gruber, the MIT economist and his view on the “stupidity of American voters”. The same thought process is often applied to other Progressive policies, like Climate Warming, Immigration, Voter ID, etc. I will expound on one of his points of utilizing experts and science as validation for their policies in another post.

The “Good Progressive”

Now in its sixth season the CBS legal, political drama “The Good Wife” is still one of the best reviewed and critically acclaimed series on TV. It is also very Progressive and it is not afraid to let this be known. The series is based in Chicago, the protagonist Alicia Florrick is the wife of now governor Peter Florrick who in the start of the series was a disgraced States Attorney facing charges of corruption and an infidelity scandal. Taking cues from the Clinton and Eliot Spitzer scandals The Good Wife’s creators Robert and Michelle King have woven a series that demonstrates Progressive thinking and displays it for the country to see.

The characters in the show seem a checklist of constituencies for Progressive.  It features Alicia Florrick, the good wife who gave up a promising law career to raise a family and help her husband’s political career, later she stood by him when he was plagued by scandals. Peter Florrick disgraced DA who fails upward, into the Governor’s Mansion, Eli Gold the Jewish lawyer and fixer, a gay brother, a bi-sexual investigator whose methods are questionable, the only Black recurring character was according to the show the largest and ruthless drug-dealer in the city, in this season he is implicated in at least 3 murders.

It is no wonder that Progressive leaders from Valerie Jarrett, Gloria Steinem, Bill DeBlasio and Donna Brazille (3 times) have made cameos on the show but aside of showing how Progressive thinking works in TV land it also shows how easily discarded their principles are. In this season of the show Alicia is running for District Attorney’s office making the show more political than in the past not that the show lacked that aspect before. If you want to see Progressive ideas and thoughts acted in action this is a great place to start.

There has been an uproars in Conservatives sites about Jonathan Gruber, the MIT economist who was instrumental in not just devising Obamacare but in ensuring that the CBO (to whom he is one of its academic advisers) would score it positively.  At the same time he was instrumental in hiding the taxes that were hidden as fees to dupe the people into supporting the bill.

If that was not bad enough, he is seen gloating about how successful he was at this. The condescending attitude he displays rather gleefully as he spikes the football is infuriating to not just Conservatives but to many others including some supporters of the law.  For an economist he puts partisanship above his trade as he is quoted as saying in this Esquire Magazine interview from  November 13:

“What I don’t get is these stupid governors who are turning down the Medicaid expansion,” he said. “This is preposterously stupid. First of all, your low-income people get health-insurance, and you get billions and billions of dollars of stimulus in health-care spending. For example, there are one million uninsured Floridians who are below the poverty line. The federal government is saying we’ll pay to insure them, and, in addition, we’re sending billions of dollars to you. And Rick Scott says no. There is no basis for turning this down except to put your political agenda ahead of the needs of your state’s citizens. They say they’re worried about the federal deficit? Why? They’re governors, for god’s sake. This is one of the criminal failures of our political system. It is an enormous failure.”

He arrogantly sees as a failure for Governors, not all of whom were Democrats of not accepting “Free Money”, but it is really free money? Of course not, and no matter how creative he was in designing the law nothing can hide that. After 2 years those same Governors would have to find the funds on their own to cover the new expensive entitlement program, which seems to be ACA’s only success, expanding Medicaid enrollment. All the other promises decreasing premiums, keeping your doctor, budget neutral have all fallen by the wayside and the law in not fully implemented, yet.

In the The Good Wife, Alicia can sermonize about standing by your man, pretend she is not an atheist, defend a notorious Drug Kingpin, only to drop him as a client because is now a liability as she runs for office of DA, because  everyone is innocent until proven guilty. The show also excuses the illegalities of their own investigator, who bribes, intimidates, break-ins, steals, etc., does anything that she can to help her employers win their cases. The end always justifies the means.

The Legacy Media or MSM as I like to call them, has circled their wagons around Gruber. As Allahpundit reported here:

Those in the center-left press who have deigned to debase themselves by addressing a story of interest to conservatives insist that there is nothing much to see here. Not only was Gruber’s admission that the ACA was designed to hide its true costs and impact on the American economy already widely known, they say, but that the American public is generally to blame for Gruber’s mendacity.

They hate it when they have to hurt you, so don’t make them do it.

The Progressives and only them know what is good for you. The American people are too stupid to understand the nuances of such policies, so it is necessary to lie and hide the effects of those policies. The same can be said about other pet projects of Progressives, Global warming, immigration, minimum wages, unions, common core, etc. They know what is best, they need to get over on those stupid Bible Thumpers as Gruber is quoted on one of the 5 videos that have surfaced so far, the end justifies it.

Progressives wanted Health Care Reform, they got reform, that it has helped some people there no doubt. That it has hurt many others there is also no doubt, that it will negatively affect more people than those that have been help time will tell. As Eli Gold tells Alicia paraphrasing; “Americans don’t want the truth, they want nicely staged events where we tell them what the truth is”. That is how Progressives view Americans a gullible audience waiting to applaud their dressed up product, nothing more.

 

The Tyranny of the Minority- Obama dismisses the Election

Specks of blue in a Red Sea. No wonder the Elitist in the East Coast and West Coast call it flyover country!

Elections season is over. There are some celebrating, while others are still in shock. The finger-pointing has begun for some, while others are lining up  the excuses. Others on the other hand are trying to game the system because it failed them.

The President has invalidated the results because only 1/3rd of the Nation bothered to vote in the Mid-Terms, leaving the other 2/3rds without a say in the matter. We cannot take the word of the minority as either a mandate or rebuke to his party or his policies.

The Tyranny of the Minority, is that they flipped the Senate from Democrat Party control to Republican, a terrible thing, indeed! How can we allow a minority of the people have the control to make such momentous decisions! It was not a national election! It was just a …  National Election where all the seats in Congress we up for grabs and 36 of the 100 Senates seats would be determined. Oh, I almost forgot 72% of the State Governors (36) were up for election as well.

I would say that the President misspoke, it is just as  likely that 2/3rds of the country opposed him and just voted by not bothering to cast a vote. Or that since he personalized the election when he said on Oct 2nd; “I am not on the ballot this fall. Michelle’s pretty happy about that. But make no mistake: These policies are on the ballot. Every single one of them,” that only 1/3rd of the population supports his administration and that is why the Republicans won.

More telling is that the first minority-elected President would use this argument or excuse as to why the Republicans gains are not meaningful is more important. After all his coalition that got him elected and re-elected is composed of minority groups which he managed to play against each other in order to win. Now that this coalition is not succeeding he just dismisses the results.

There are others making this same argument as this editorial from Newark’s Star-Ledger complains:

The problem is that all states, big or small, get the same two seats in the Senate. That gives a nearly vacant state like Wyoming the same heft as California or New York. It gives a voter in Cheyenne 66 times more power than a voter in San Francisco in shaping the Senate.

Tom Moran the author of the editorial is not stopping there, he cites another reason for the Republican’s success which also blames those long dead “White Guys” (Founding Fathers) that wrote the Constitution.

The founders gave states the power to draw their own district lines, and both political parties have used it shamelessly through our history. The core idea is to draw district lines so that your opponents win big in just a few districts, wasting as many votes as possible.

Republicans happen to have the advantage after the 2010 census, so it was their turn to make mischief.

Gerrymandering, named after Governor Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts and salamander in 1812 after he redrew an district that had the shape of a salamander. This excuse which I have seen repeated in several Leftist sites and repeated by several Prog commentators is especially rich, since gerrymandering has long been used by Democrats to preserve “Minority Districts”,  and would have not effect on state-wide Senate or Governor races where Congressional Districts don’t apply.

Texas 30th Congressional District 1991-1996

The same gerrymandering that produced Texas 30th Congressional District created in 1991 after the 1990 decennial Census allotted Texas extra seats.

This was one of 3 such districts that were intended to increase minority voting districts. Texas Governor George Bush opposed the new district as racial considerations were only considerations to the districts odd dimensions. In 1996, the Supreme Court in a 6-3 decision agreed and the district had to be redrawn. There are many District 30s out there but since districts are only redrawn every 10 years, unless there is a change of party affiliation in charge there is not impetus to fix the gerrymander.

Many of those complaining about gerrymandering are on record as supporting the practice in order to increase minority voting districts and increase their odds of gaining control of Congress. Now that the Congressional map is not as favorable this old dead White Guy legacy has to be relegated to history and State with a larger population need a larger proportion of Senators.

The Republicans won big, not only did they flipped the Senate, they also padded their Majority in Congress. They also added 3 extra more Governors with the Alaska still in contention but who regardless of the winner will caucus with the Republicans. That would make 29-30 Governors out of the 50 States. Some minority!

I guess this is more indicative of Progressives mentality, it is only good if it helps their cause. Otherwise it is antiquated, misguided, discriminatory and worst of all conservative. The idea of 2 Senators per State was designed with express purpose of preventing larger more populous States of being able to solely dictate policy and demolish the participation of smaller less populous States. Originally, the State’s Legislature would pick who would represent their own States.

This arrangement worked well until 1913 when the 17th Amendment was ratified. Long sought by Progressives since the 1890’s and its chief supporter Williams Jennings Bryan who ran for President 3 times losing in every occasion, and was serving as President Wilson’s Secretary of State at the time of the Amendment passage.

Interesting enough the 1890’s (the process had started years earlier) the Democrats regaining control of Southern States and changing their own Constitutions to restrict the Black vote. Poll taxes, grandfather laws and other means were used to restrict or deny the Black population their right to vote especially since in many Southern States Blacks constituted a large part of the population, a majority in many of those same States.

I should also note that the first Black Senator, Hiram Rhodes Revels in 1871 and the second Blanche Bruce in 1875 were both elected by the Mississippi Legislature under the original system. It was not until Edward William Brooke III from  Mass. was elected in 1966 that we would see another Black Senator in Congress. All 3 were also Republican. This election Republican Tim Scoot became the 1st Black Senator elected by popular vote in the former Confederate States.

The MSM has made much of the perceived ideological Right shift of the Republican Party, emphasis and demonizing the Tea Party influence for instance. The ideological shift Left of the Democrat Party which began in control its caucus in 2006 has been all but ignored. In 2006 the dissatisfaction with the Middle East Wars, the misrepresentation of the Bush Administration’s handling of Katrina among other things paved the way for the 2008 election of President Obama in a wave election as a result of that;

In 2009, Democrats had 60 senators, when you include the two independents who caucused with them; in 2015, they will have 45.
In 2009, Democrats had 256 members of the House; in 2015, they will have 192.
In 2009, Democrats had 28 governors; in 2015, they will have 18.
In 2009, Democrats controlled both legislative chambers in 27 states; in 2015, they will control only 11.
In 2009, Democrats controlled 62 legislative chambers; in 2015, they will control only 28 (with one tie and two still undecided).

The results of those 2 elections were rolled back beginning in the wave 2010 elections by the Republicans and in 2012 though minor loses on National offices, there made gains in many States in local elections, either consolidating or flipping local Legislatures.

MId-terms elections are really about your motivating your base. Historically, the President’s party suffers some loses in Mid-Terms only 3 times in 1934, 1998 and 2002 have the President’s party made gains on the Mid-Terms. Looking at shorter-term trends, after this past election it would mean that from 1994 until at least 2016 the Republicans would have control of the Senate for 12 yrs and House for 18 yrs something that should concern the Democrats.

The successes of by the Democrats in 2006 and 2008 appear an aberration rather than a trend. If President Obama and his Party want to deceive themselves and believe the cheering media that is on them. In the meantime as the President alluded to the Tyranny of the Minority will continue. How long before this minority is considered a majority, I guess we will have to wait until 2016.

Bread and Circuses

 

Elections are here.

The America of my time line is a laboratory example of what can happen to democracies, what has eventually happened to all perfect democracies throughout all histories. A perfect democracy, a ‘warm body’ democracy in which every adult may vote and all votes count equally, has no internal feedback for self-correction. It depends solely on the wisdom and self-restraint of citizens… which is opposed by the folly and lack of self-restraint of other citizens. What is supposed to happen in a democracy is that each sovereign citizen will always vote in the public interest for the safety and welfare of all. But what does happen is that he votes his own self-interest as he sees it… which for the majority translates as ‘Bread and Circuses.’

‘Bread and Circuses’ is the cancer of democracy, the fatal disease for which there is no cure. Democracy often works beautifully at first. But once a state extends the franchise to every warm body, be he producer or parasite, that day marks the beginning of the end of the state. For when the plebs discover that they can vote themselves bread and circuses without limit and that the productive members of the body politic cannot stop them, they will do so, until the state bleeds to death, or in its weakened condition the state succumbs to an invader—the barbarians enter Rome.”
― Robert A. Heinlein

Robert A. Heinlein was a science fiction writer along with Isaac Azimov and Arthur C. Clarke were considered the “Big Three” of science fiction writers. He received 7 Hugo Awards presented for the best achievements in science fiction or fantasy works. He was described early on by Asimov as a “flaming liberal” but he went through a conversion displayed in his later novels and short stories. He recognized the reformation that the country was experiencing and he was critical about it. As a science fiction writer you not only try to envision and predict the future but to notice societal trends. You then utilize those trends to estimate the impact on society.

Bread and circuses was not a new concept, throughout civilization those in power have sought to prevent revolt, as well as distract the populace by ensuring they were fed and entertained. HIstory is littered with invasions, wars and conflicts over resources that one group had and another lacked and desired. Diplomacy was useful but one thing about diplomacy was the agreements rarely produced lasting resolutions, in many cases they only set up or were the cause of the nest conflict. The UN is ineffective because of this, we ignore it at our peril.

With the advent of democracy or representative governments as the de facto mode of governance in the world, particularly Western Civilization this is even more important now. The shift of power or the appearance of a shift from the centralized absolute power of the hereditary monarchs which prevailed until the 18th century to the representative democracies or constitutional monarchies of today has meant that those who can provide the bread and circuses for their people will continue to rule.

Today giving people what they want, though not necessarily what they need dominates every election in this country. Offering of bread ( free health care,  welfare, housing, higher minimum wages, college tuition, etc.) or  the circus(legal marijuana, abortion on demand, gay marriage, immigration, school reforms, etc.) decide elections. Little if any consideration is given to the long-term consequences of what is offered or given. Giving people what they want or convincing enough that what is offered is what they really want is used to gain, expand and maintain power by both sides.

Almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so.”
― Robert A. Heinlein

There is plenty of evidence of this; You have Union groups that force non-Union members to pay fees. You have gay groups that have managed to get the government to force others to host their weddings, make their wedding cake, take their photos despite the religious objections of those people. Now as has been done in Europe a couple is trying, with local government help, to have a Reverend officiated a gay marriage or face fines or jail.

We see this in the opposition to Voter Id laws; These laws are almost universal around the world, yet in US they are bitterly opposed. One of the main arguments is that minorities will be disenfranchised by these laws. As the witnesses for the DOJ recently testified:

It’s also the case that — well, yes, so it would, empirically more likely affect African Americans. Also, understanding within political science, that people who register to vote the closer and closer one gets to Election Day tend to be less sophisticated voters, tend to be less educated voters, tend to be voters who are less attuned to public affairs. That also tells me from the literature of political science that there are likely to be people who will end up not registering and not voting. People who correspond to those factors tend to be African Americans, and, therefore, that’s another vehicle through which African Americans would be disproportionately affected by this law.

Translation we need same day registration and voting because blacks are too ignorant or civic minded to register to vote beforehand. The words disparate impact, discrimination, privilege are used to hammer others who do not agree to consent with their views. If that fails threats of violence in the form of riots or physical violence are used. This was evident in 2010 during the Trayvon Martin Case, that forced the State to press charges against George Zimmerman, will it work this year in the attempts to charge Darren Wilson in Ferguson?

There is no worse tyranny than to force a man to pay for what he does not want merely because you think it would be good for him.”
― Robert A. Heinlein, The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress

The effects of battling Global Warming are starting to felt in this nation, despite the fact that the World has not warmed in over 18 years. Policies implemented to combat CO2 production the bogeyman in the AGW theory, has meant that people are paying more for electricity and heating costs. In healthcare, the new Obamacare law is now also making healthcare unaffordable for many, the opposite of the law’s intent, while not denting the number of uninsured.

There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch.”
― Robert A. Heinlein, The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress

The Federal government has been printing money at a furious pace, this policy of Quantitative easing (QE), has meant that the rich have gotten richer while those in the Middle has stagnated. Trillions borrowed to pay for TARP, Porkulus and the millions now in the welfare system will mean that future generations will be socked with a huge bill to pay.

The middle class is the hardest hit, while the poor receive assistance from the government to ease or shield them from the results of such policies and the rich can afford it, it is the middle class which bears the brunt. Obamacare has truly become a tax-hit on  many families who are now paying thousands more in healthcare while receiving little or in many cases less coverage or benefits.

Food prices which is not used to calculate inflation, have soared. Ground beef prices are almost 40% higher than 4 years ago, bacon is twice as expensive as 4 years ago. In some instances the prices increases have been hidden by smaller packaging. A 5lb bag of sugar is now 4lb for the same or higher price. 16oz cans now contain 12oz, etc. But even this can’t hide that the cost have risen while wages have not.

“Throughout history, poverty is the normal condition of man. Advances which permit this norm to be exceeded — here and there, now and then — are the work of an extremely small minority, frequently despised, often condemned, and almost always opposed by all right-thinking people. Whenever this tiny minority is kept from creating, or (as sometimes happens) is driven out of a society, the people then slip back into abject poverty.

This is known as “bad luck.”

― Robert A. Heinlein

This is the reality we face, history has proven this time and time again. We can ignore history and keep saying to ourselves that we will get it right this time, until this time comes and goes and then we realized were did we go wrong? The answers are and have always been in front of us. We keep trying to re-invent the wheel but forgetting how the original used to work. Petty differences are the circuses used to distract us. Petty new rights are the bread used to attracts us, yet neither makes the wheel work any better or go any faster but boy can they be use to maintain their power.

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.”
― Robert A. Heinlein

Amen.

 

 

 

Ebola in NYC

Obama is on this!

It appears that a doctor who had returned from Guinea 10 days ago from the group Doctors without Borders has tested positive for Ebola. It seems that while he was on a self quarantine it was not very rigorous.

Before he started feeling the symptoms today and was rushed to the hospital with a police escort, he was out bowling yesterday with his girlfriend. Exposing her and countless others. He also used über which will probably get negative PR to counter any good PR they were getting from their Flu shot program.

Hopefully, this case will be isolated to the doctor and he will fully recover but we see again the foolishness of believing that the simple screening we have implemented will be sufficient to deter future cases. The next one may not call the hospital when symptoms hit him/her and may instead contaminate many others before diagnosed.

This is the danger of allowing PC considerations dictate public policy. The Administration knows of the dangers and it is following a policy that endangers other citizens in order to appease those that would accuse of racism or overreaction. It is doing this not because it in the public’s interest but because it is in their best political interest. 2 more years!

 

The Michael Brown Case, Update 4.2: The Media, at TTAG

Mike delivers a powerful and concise look at the Michael Brown case. HIs criticism of the media is well-earned and could cost lives. Primer from the linked article:

“If a criminal is willing to attack a cop, what would they do to the next citizen they meet?”

This point seems to be forgotten by those who support Brown and were likely the first to have to deal with the menace that Brown seem to be. Even the Washington Post appears to get it.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/new-evidence-supports-officers-account-of-shooting-in-ferguson/2014/10/22/cf38c7b4-5964-11e4-bd61-346aee66ba29_story.html

 

Stately McDaniel Manor

credit: clashdaily.com

As bits of pieces of information trickle out in the Michal Brown case, I’m compiling information for a new addition to the articles in that archive. The next article will be posted in the near future. In the meantime, you might want to visit The Truth About Guns, where my weekly contribution this week is something of a primer on the Brown case, the law, and the way the media makes self-defense more difficult for us all.

The article is titled “Practicing the Art of Self Defense–From the Media.”  By the way, please keep in mind that when one contributes articles to the publishing concerns of others, it is the editors of those concerns that usually write the headlines, titles, decide when to publish articles, etc. At the Manor, I wear all the publishing hats and the decisions–and blame–are entirely mine. At TTAG, and the other sites that…

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By Hook (race card) or by Crook (cheating)

Once again elections are upon us, and we are again faced with the decision of which way the country will head. If you want to know why so many Americans are repulsed by politics or politicians all you have to do is look at what is happening during this election and feel disgusted. This is something that extends to both parties, Democrat and Republican, though in this one is seems like the Democrats who are facing an uphill battle are pulling no punches in their underhandedness.

By CROOK:

This election the Democrats are in a particularly hard battle to retain the Senate. To many contests with many in States that are normally Republican held areas. Many rode the Obama wave election in 2008 into office but now it is the same Obama Administration that has put them in a bind. As the Administration continues to go from blunder to blunder the fortunes of those seeking re-election get worse, and are not helped by Obama who keeps inserting himself into the campaigns of the beleaguered Senators, whether they want him to or not.

For those Senators who are trying to distance themselves from the Obama Administration and their many “blunders”, what Obama said just the other day in Sharpton’s Radio show could not have come at a worse time.

“The bottom line is though, these are all folks who vote with me; they have supported my agenda in Congress; they are on the right side of minimum wage; they are on the right side of fair pay; they are on the right side of rebuilding our infrastructure; they’re on the right side of early childhood education.”

“These are folks who are strong allies and supporters of me, and I tell them, I said, ‘You know what, you do what you need to do to win. I will be responsible for making sure our voters turn out.’ ”

Talk about a cynical statement, not only is Obama saying that these Senators are with him and by extension share responsibility for his policies but also telling them that it is fine if they LIE to the electorate on their positions or opposition to the President to get elected. Once elected they will come back into the fold and continue as before. Of course, lying about positions and policies is something that the President is intimately acquainted with; you can keep your doctor, Syria red-line, not my decision to remove troops from Iraq, not a smidgen of corruption in the IRS, etc.

In Kansas, the Democrats had their candidate bow out of the election when it became clear that their candidate would lose against the Republican incumbent Senator Pat Roberts.   Greg Orman the Independent candidate a longtime Democrat operative running as an independent was sure to split the vote with the Democratic candidate but was a stronger opponent than Chad Taylor, who won his party’s nomination on the primary. Though Kansas law said that a candidate withdrawn after the primary had to be replaced by the party committee, the Democrat Party choose not to run any candidate in order to give Orman a better chance at defeating Roberts.

Is not just national elections that have their share of underhandedness, in Nevada for instance in a race for State Assembly #34 a candidate who was disqualified from running for not meeting the residency requirements but whose name will still on the ballot, could be seated if she wins, anyway.  The candidate Meghan Smith has been for the past 2 elections a politician in search of a seat. In 2010 she ran in a Republican leaning district and lost. In 2012 she ran in a different district in a Democrat leaning one but lost in the primary-her opponent won her seat. This year an open seat in District #34 produced an opportunity, thing was that she did not live on District #34.

On January 30th she instructed her Realtor to find her a residence within the boundaries of the district but with the deadline of February 12th fast approaching time was of the essence. A condo in the edges of the district was found the next day and negotiations were begun. Before she had even bought the property she proceeded to the state DMV office to get her address changed to the property which was not hers, yet.  She also filed paperwork to run for this seat with the Secretary of State.

Ms. Smith finally purchased the property and moved in March 7th, almost a full month past the residency requirement proscribed by Nevada law. She won the Democratic primary by 15 votes and was set to face the Republican challenger. The Republican challenger sued to have her declared ineligible and won in court after the Judge found in the Republican challenger’s favor. This might be a Pyrrhic victories of sorts, because of the time it took to adjudicate the lawsuit, Meghan Smith’s name will remain in the ballot and Nevada law allows the State Assembly to pick a replacement for disqualified candidates. This means that the Assembly which is controlled by Democrats could name Ms. Smith to the seat, though she was disqualified from the election for not meeting residency requirements. Continued next page.

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