(AP) – Jack Wiley Dithers reporting.
Today, President Obama announced in the Rose Garden that Czar of Homeland Justice Richard B. Cheney will lead a newly formed task force to clean up the mess in the Gulf.
Holding the door for Mr. Cheney as they entered the Rose Garden, the President’s attire and coif appeared a bit mussed. On his way to the podium, Mr. Obama looked at ABC News correspondent Jake Tapper and said “No questions today, Helen.”
Mr. Obama was uncharacteristically brief and contrite in his remarks while introducing Mr. Cheney. Mr. Obama told the press pool, "What this crisis needs is a straight shooter. And nobody shoots like the Czar of Homeland Justice." He went on to say "I have deputized the Czar of Homeland Justice to do - and let me be clear, I mean DO - whatever it takes to clean up the mess in the Gulf."
Mr. Cheney then strode up to the podium like a colossus, and began speaking. He was characteristically brief and direct. He said his first order of business was to determine whose ass to kick, and that he had already checked that one off. Mr. Obama was looking at his shoes while Mr. Cheney made this point.
The Czar of Homeland Justice said he had already made four phone calls while Mr. Obama was sitting there.
The first was to Nobel Prize Winning physicist Steven F. Chu, instructing him to stay at home and watch the news on television.
The second was to his administrative assistant, instructing her to initiate the call tree to every head of state willing to send a skimmer ship to help.
The Czar of Homeland Justice then said his third phone call was to ‘whoever the hell is running the Army Corps of Engineers today, and I told her to get some damn shovels out there to build those damn berms Bobby has been screaming about.’
He also announced that one week from today, he will chair an open forum, at the New Orleans Hilton, where anyone with an innovative idea for picking up oil off the water or beaches can present their ideas. He said his fourth phone call was to BP CEO Tony Hayward clearing the agreement BP will expense all submitted travel and lodging expenses.
Effective immediately, any Gulf Coast resident claiming to have lost their means of living can enlist in the new Czar of Homeland Justice Gulf Clean Up Corps. Each enlistee will be compensated weekly at the equivalent salary rate of a GS-15 salaried federal employee. Each of these enlistments will be matched by an indefinite furlough of a Washington-based GS-15 for as long as the cleanup takes – making the program deficit neutral.
Mr. Cheney looked over at Mr. Obama, both men nodded, and Mr. Obama went over to hold the door open for Mr. Cheney, and the press pool was left murmuring to itself.
Jack Wiley Dithers reporting.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Quickie Analysis: Barry’s Gulf Oil Spill Speech
Or: It's Still All About Barry.
It is fitting that Barack Hussein Obama’s first speech from the Oval Office will go down as the speech that precipitated his final slide into complete and utter irrelevance.
This will be because he couldn’t help but make it all about Barry. The problem for him is making it all about Barry is what got him into this hole in the first place. Not being able to even recognize the root problem, he is incapable of observing the first rule of standing in holes – stop digging.
He couldn’t bring himself to make even the slightest admission that the government could have done anything better, or faster, in the containment response. In fact, he had the chutzpah to start off with the big lie that the federal government was calling the shots from day one: “we directed BP to assemble teams and equipment…” Even while you were turning away offers of skimmers from foreign governments, Barry? Something doesn’t add up about the “in charge” part of your narrative.
He also gave the federal government a belated pat on the back for deploying booms, assigning national guardsmen, issuing permits to build sand berms, and bringing in skimmers – precisely the containment tools and methods local jurisdictions have been screaming for at the tops of their collective lungs for eight weeks now! Government can do no wrong in the statist’s mind. And Barry is nothing if not a statist. It’s all about Barry.
He then pivoted easily into a so-called “Long Term Gulf Coast Restoration” program – making the unrealistic promise to give Gulf Coast residents anything and everything they need, at no cost to US taxpayers, completely underwritten by the evil BP corporation. If you believe this, I’ve got a bridge in … well, you know the rest. Make no mistake – this is just the old Community Organizer’s trick of promising something for nothing to people in need, in exchange for voting loyalty. It’s all about Barry. This program will cost the American taxpayer untold gazillions of dollars – you can take that much to the bank. Speaking for BP’s open-ended commitment before meeting with BP’s CEO for even the first time could prove to come back and bite Barry, too – we’ll see.
He then moved on to defending the drilling moratorium he reflexively imposed (like a good statist will) – on the specious grounds that he was misled about the risks on a somewhat related decision a few weeks before. Make no mistake – this was a sop to his political left wing. Does the FAA ground every airplane for six months whenever any single airplane crashes? Of course not – it would be a stupid overreaction. But Barry has an agenda to push here. It’s all about Barry.
And Barry smells an opportunity to impose more government control, like any good statist would. He announced still another phony commission – this one with the transparent mission of building out denser (read economically straight-jacketing) regulations for an industry that already deals with reams upon reams of regulation. Barry the statist used the opportunity tonight to make his clarion call for scorched earth regulation of another industry. It’s all about Barry.
Then came the big pitch for Barry’s true agenda - Cap and Tax. We got the old Progressive meme stating the US uses 20% of the world’s fossil fuel even though we’re 2% of the world’s population. No shit, Sherlock – we have the most prosperous society! If Kenyans would like to consume more fossil fuels and raise its standard of living, and change the ratios, they are welcome to have at it!
Notice he did not mention “Global Warming,” err I mean “Climate Change,” err I mean whatever the hell they are calling it now. That’s because the science is discredited. Instead, he engaged in the big lie that resources are running out closer to shore and on shore. Yeah, we’ll have that argument in the coming days and weeks – but just for starters; let's review this map of the status of coastal US off shore drilling areas (courtesy of Reuters).
Then he predictably got into wind and solar, surely knowing they are incapable of meeting even a pathetic percentage of demand – while failing to even mention nuclear, which does indeed have the ability to scale up to meeting significant portions of demand right now. But when the truth doesn’t fit Barry’s agenda, it cannot be mentioned. It’s all about Barry.
Then came the explicit mention of Waxman-Markey (aka “Cap and Tax”), without actually saying its name. This was the big sop to his political left wing we all expected. It’s all about Barry. We then heard the oblique reference to there being “costs” involved – but no specifics. Yeah, economically crippling costs! Make no mistake – when the statist is non-specific about costs, you can be sure the final bill will be astronomical.
Then he made another disingenuous promise to entertain all ideas in the Cap and Tax debate – just like he did right before the phony Blair House Summit that kicked off the last act of the ObamaCare tragic comedy. My personal favorite tonight was Barry the Wise wondering aloud why energy companies don’t spend as much on R&D as high tech companies. No shit, Sherlock – energy companies are already regulated to death! More regulation means more dollars for compliance and fewer dollars for everything else, including R&D. But of course more and more regulation is precisely what the statist always calls for. The only surprising thing here is he didn’t take the opportunity to call for more regulation of the high tech industry in the next breath. An amazing show of restraint, if you ask me. It’s all about Barry.
Finally came the hopey changey platitudes and insincere nods to prayer and patriotism.
It was all about Barry when the Progressive machine foisted this Empty Suit upon the republic, and sold him on false premises, using the compliant and biased MSM. It still is all about Barry, and that’s precisely the problem that presently plagues the republic.
For now, it’s as if these guys were running the country, and we’ll just have to muddle along with the checks and balances bestowed upon us by the American Founding Fathers ….
It is fitting that Barack Hussein Obama’s first speech from the Oval Office will go down as the speech that precipitated his final slide into complete and utter irrelevance.
This will be because he couldn’t help but make it all about Barry. The problem for him is making it all about Barry is what got him into this hole in the first place. Not being able to even recognize the root problem, he is incapable of observing the first rule of standing in holes – stop digging.
He couldn’t bring himself to make even the slightest admission that the government could have done anything better, or faster, in the containment response. In fact, he had the chutzpah to start off with the big lie that the federal government was calling the shots from day one: “we directed BP to assemble teams and equipment…” Even while you were turning away offers of skimmers from foreign governments, Barry? Something doesn’t add up about the “in charge” part of your narrative.
He also gave the federal government a belated pat on the back for deploying booms, assigning national guardsmen, issuing permits to build sand berms, and bringing in skimmers – precisely the containment tools and methods local jurisdictions have been screaming for at the tops of their collective lungs for eight weeks now! Government can do no wrong in the statist’s mind. And Barry is nothing if not a statist. It’s all about Barry.
He then pivoted easily into a so-called “Long Term Gulf Coast Restoration” program – making the unrealistic promise to give Gulf Coast residents anything and everything they need, at no cost to US taxpayers, completely underwritten by the evil BP corporation. If you believe this, I’ve got a bridge in … well, you know the rest. Make no mistake – this is just the old Community Organizer’s trick of promising something for nothing to people in need, in exchange for voting loyalty. It’s all about Barry. This program will cost the American taxpayer untold gazillions of dollars – you can take that much to the bank. Speaking for BP’s open-ended commitment before meeting with BP’s CEO for even the first time could prove to come back and bite Barry, too – we’ll see.
He then moved on to defending the drilling moratorium he reflexively imposed (like a good statist will) – on the specious grounds that he was misled about the risks on a somewhat related decision a few weeks before. Make no mistake – this was a sop to his political left wing. Does the FAA ground every airplane for six months whenever any single airplane crashes? Of course not – it would be a stupid overreaction. But Barry has an agenda to push here. It’s all about Barry.
And Barry smells an opportunity to impose more government control, like any good statist would. He announced still another phony commission – this one with the transparent mission of building out denser (read economically straight-jacketing) regulations for an industry that already deals with reams upon reams of regulation. Barry the statist used the opportunity tonight to make his clarion call for scorched earth regulation of another industry. It’s all about Barry.
Then came the big pitch for Barry’s true agenda - Cap and Tax. We got the old Progressive meme stating the US uses 20% of the world’s fossil fuel even though we’re 2% of the world’s population. No shit, Sherlock – we have the most prosperous society! If Kenyans would like to consume more fossil fuels and raise its standard of living, and change the ratios, they are welcome to have at it!
Notice he did not mention “Global Warming,” err I mean “Climate Change,” err I mean whatever the hell they are calling it now. That’s because the science is discredited. Instead, he engaged in the big lie that resources are running out closer to shore and on shore. Yeah, we’ll have that argument in the coming days and weeks – but just for starters; let's review this map of the status of coastal US off shore drilling areas (courtesy of Reuters).
Then he predictably got into wind and solar, surely knowing they are incapable of meeting even a pathetic percentage of demand – while failing to even mention nuclear, which does indeed have the ability to scale up to meeting significant portions of demand right now. But when the truth doesn’t fit Barry’s agenda, it cannot be mentioned. It’s all about Barry.
Then came the explicit mention of Waxman-Markey (aka “Cap and Tax”), without actually saying its name. This was the big sop to his political left wing we all expected. It’s all about Barry. We then heard the oblique reference to there being “costs” involved – but no specifics. Yeah, economically crippling costs! Make no mistake – when the statist is non-specific about costs, you can be sure the final bill will be astronomical.
Then he made another disingenuous promise to entertain all ideas in the Cap and Tax debate – just like he did right before the phony Blair House Summit that kicked off the last act of the ObamaCare tragic comedy. My personal favorite tonight was Barry the Wise wondering aloud why energy companies don’t spend as much on R&D as high tech companies. No shit, Sherlock – energy companies are already regulated to death! More regulation means more dollars for compliance and fewer dollars for everything else, including R&D. But of course more and more regulation is precisely what the statist always calls for. The only surprising thing here is he didn’t take the opportunity to call for more regulation of the high tech industry in the next breath. An amazing show of restraint, if you ask me. It’s all about Barry.
Finally came the hopey changey platitudes and insincere nods to prayer and patriotism.
It was all about Barry when the Progressive machine foisted this Empty Suit upon the republic, and sold him on false premises, using the compliant and biased MSM. It still is all about Barry, and that’s precisely the problem that presently plagues the republic.
For now, it’s as if these guys were running the country, and we’ll just have to muddle along with the checks and balances bestowed upon us by the American Founding Fathers ….
Thursday, June 10, 2010
The Conservative Ascendancy (And Other Things That May Be Rising)
Tuesday’s primary election results across the nation were good news for the Conservative Ascendancy. And it’s not just because it precipitated a lot of media coverage concerning Sarah Palin’s boobs - although this has been a fringe benefit for some of us.
Wonkette Reports, You Decide. Take Your Time.
Nor was it due to the demographic attributes of the Palin-endorsed “mama grizzlies” who won their races – which has been so much the topic of conversation among the chattering class and its’ talking heads. I couldn’t care less about my politicians’ demographics, and neither should you. We should care about just what the hell these people intend to DO for us or to us once in office.
The uniformly good news from Tuesday’s results is the American center of political gravity continues to move right. Yeah, I know Mark Levin thinks Carly Fiorina might be a RINO – but a RINO would be a huge improvement on the two Progressive slugs California now calls “Senator” (or “ma’am” as the case may be). And, as I look around at the situation today, I can say with confidence I’d be much happier living in an America with RINO Senators from MA and CA - assuming principled conservatives from everywhere else in the country.
I could even live happily under principled Democrat conservatives from middle America (if there is even such a thing anymore). Stipulating for the sake of illustration alone that Blanche Lincoln is a “conservative” Democrat – it is good news she beat back the challenge from the well funded, union backed, Progressive wing nut named Bill Halter. The center of gravity continues to move right. We’ll beat her sorry “blue dog”, err I mean “lap dog”, arse in the general anyway.
The best news of all is that a true TEA Party patriot named Sharon Angle has been nominated to finally rid us of Dingy Harry Reid, and she is starting the general election race with a significant lead in the polls against this most contemptible of incumbents.
Winning this race will be a morale boost to the Conservative Ascendancy no less significant than what taking Fort Ticonderoga in May 1775 was to the Revolutionary cause.
I grew up in upstate New York relatively near Fort Ticonderoga…which brings me now to the primary election report from the congressional district in which I now live, Virginia’s 11th.
==
I reported in my April 30th posting I would be making a last minute decision in the local Republican Congressional primary, because the professed policy positions of the two contestants were virtually identical and very conservative. I made my election day decision on purely subjective factors. My subjective analysis was that Herrity seemed to want it more - so I had better vote for Fimian just to be careful.
Herrity lined up the GOP establishment and went more negative with more fervor in the campaign literature I saw. Plus Herrity’s big negative point on Fimian didn’t even hold water with me. Apparently Fimian the business owner ran into some tax law red tape over a technicality in the amount of $16K supposedly owed. Big deal – sounds to me like he has the experience to lead the coming tax revolt.
Well, the votes have been tallied – and the only thing that matters now is defeating that Jihadi huggin’, deficit spendin’, constituent assaultin’ Progressive sack o’ excrement Gerry Connolly in November. So, Herrity had better step aside (don’t pull no Charlie Crist crap, man) and the local GOP establishment had better get completely behind Fimian.
==
The turnout story was the most interesting part for me. My wife pushed the big electronic button for Mr. Fimian at approximately 1 pm. She says she was voter number 76 at our local polling place. I cast my vote for him at around 6 pm, and I was voter number 138.
I went to bed wondering about the apparently low turnout, and, honestly, not caring too much about the outcome.
During the morning commute the next morning, I learned from local talk radio that Fimian had won. I also learned that turnout district-wide was unusually high- which of course indicates the conservative base is on the move as expected. So, why the unusually low turnout in my precinct?
I’ve decided it just confirms what I’ve always known – my immediate neighbors are mostly zombies too clueless to even care their country is being destroyed by the Progressive gang, as well as some card-carrying members of the gang itself.
I can’t wait to unfurl the “Mission Accomplished” banner in my front yard after the November elections. It’s been a long time coming.
==
This just in: Gallup says Barry is now officially toast. Disapprove exceeds Approve for the first time.
Wonkette Reports, You Decide. Take Your Time.
Nor was it due to the demographic attributes of the Palin-endorsed “mama grizzlies” who won their races – which has been so much the topic of conversation among the chattering class and its’ talking heads. I couldn’t care less about my politicians’ demographics, and neither should you. We should care about just what the hell these people intend to DO for us or to us once in office.
The uniformly good news from Tuesday’s results is the American center of political gravity continues to move right. Yeah, I know Mark Levin thinks Carly Fiorina might be a RINO – but a RINO would be a huge improvement on the two Progressive slugs California now calls “Senator” (or “ma’am” as the case may be). And, as I look around at the situation today, I can say with confidence I’d be much happier living in an America with RINO Senators from MA and CA - assuming principled conservatives from everywhere else in the country.
I could even live happily under principled Democrat conservatives from middle America (if there is even such a thing anymore). Stipulating for the sake of illustration alone that Blanche Lincoln is a “conservative” Democrat – it is good news she beat back the challenge from the well funded, union backed, Progressive wing nut named Bill Halter. The center of gravity continues to move right. We’ll beat her sorry “blue dog”, err I mean “lap dog”, arse in the general anyway.
The best news of all is that a true TEA Party patriot named Sharon Angle has been nominated to finally rid us of Dingy Harry Reid, and she is starting the general election race with a significant lead in the polls against this most contemptible of incumbents.
Winning this race will be a morale boost to the Conservative Ascendancy no less significant than what taking Fort Ticonderoga in May 1775 was to the Revolutionary cause.
I grew up in upstate New York relatively near Fort Ticonderoga…which brings me now to the primary election report from the congressional district in which I now live, Virginia’s 11th.
==
I reported in my April 30th posting I would be making a last minute decision in the local Republican Congressional primary, because the professed policy positions of the two contestants were virtually identical and very conservative. I made my election day decision on purely subjective factors. My subjective analysis was that Herrity seemed to want it more - so I had better vote for Fimian just to be careful.
Herrity lined up the GOP establishment and went more negative with more fervor in the campaign literature I saw. Plus Herrity’s big negative point on Fimian didn’t even hold water with me. Apparently Fimian the business owner ran into some tax law red tape over a technicality in the amount of $16K supposedly owed. Big deal – sounds to me like he has the experience to lead the coming tax revolt.
Well, the votes have been tallied – and the only thing that matters now is defeating that Jihadi huggin’, deficit spendin’, constituent assaultin’ Progressive sack o’ excrement Gerry Connolly in November. So, Herrity had better step aside (don’t pull no Charlie Crist crap, man) and the local GOP establishment had better get completely behind Fimian.
==
The turnout story was the most interesting part for me. My wife pushed the big electronic button for Mr. Fimian at approximately 1 pm. She says she was voter number 76 at our local polling place. I cast my vote for him at around 6 pm, and I was voter number 138.
I went to bed wondering about the apparently low turnout, and, honestly, not caring too much about the outcome.
During the morning commute the next morning, I learned from local talk radio that Fimian had won. I also learned that turnout district-wide was unusually high- which of course indicates the conservative base is on the move as expected. So, why the unusually low turnout in my precinct?
I’ve decided it just confirms what I’ve always known – my immediate neighbors are mostly zombies too clueless to even care their country is being destroyed by the Progressive gang, as well as some card-carrying members of the gang itself.
I can’t wait to unfurl the “Mission Accomplished” banner in my front yard after the November elections. It’s been a long time coming.
==
This just in: Gallup says Barry is now officially toast. Disapprove exceeds Approve for the first time.
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Why Can’t Government Actually DO Anything? (Because it’s Government Stupid.)
Or: If it’s in the nature of the beast, and it’s a problem, then starve the beast.
==
Let’s start with a little vignette from my own personal experience at a government agency that shall remain nameless. If you don’t have time to read any further, I’ll give you the summary right now as a game of charades.
Two Words. First word – “Cluster.”
The task was to deploy a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) Intranet application with maybe a few hundred users, from a test platform into production. The presentation layer was garden variety .Net forms. The data layer was SQL Server. The business logic – and I mean every single business rule – was entirely contained in SQL stored procedures. Literally only two target servers – web server and database server. The database server took in a couple of data feeds from external systems; all totally read-only and asynchronously connected. I’ll now translate for the non-IT-geek……
….Dirt Simple.
If they had given me administrative access to the two servers, I could have completed the task myself in an hour without breaking a sweat. A competent administrator who actually knew what they were doing could have done it in 20 minutes, including the obligatory cigarette break. Here’s how it actually went down.
I was presented with a three-track approval process. The first track was an incredibly dense documentation exercise for headquarters' “change control” organization. The other two tracks involved two distinct automated help desk ticket processes – one for each target server – even though neither update could work without the other one. You know, because everybody knows you need a completely separate organization for every damn server.
I was given a “handler” to guide me through the maze of the headquarters red tape. His preferred mode of operation was to constantly ping me on Instant Messenger (IM) with new questions and requirements for what was obviously a still evolving “change control process” at this so-called “headquarters.” This process lasted a week or so, including at least four face-to-face meetings. Throughout this process I mostly just fed this guy what he wanted, knowing full well it had next to zero nutritional value. (Any value to speak of was purely CYA in nature.) At the end of all this he gave me his thumbs up, and pronounced my two draft help desk tickets ready to move forward.
Was he ever wrong.
Each of the help desk tickets would require no less than five more levels of approval. Each one added its own unique requirements for new documentation. Mostly it was more documentation with next to zero nutritional value (except for CYA). But, of course, my team is also required to attach precisely detailed installation instructions for servers they’ve never seen, and will never be granted access to, and which are controlled by groups barely willing to take our phone calls. Literally hundreds – perhaps even more than a thousand (I am not insane enough to try to count) – emails, phones, and Instant Messages flew around the digital network. On one of the tickets, the person actually assigned to do the work was approval level one with four left to go.
After maybe two weeks of this bureaucratic nightmare, the big day arrives. A conference call line is opened, consisting of the two people actually doing the work and about a dozen or so other interested parties. The two people doing the work are inexperienced and lack basic skills. The one person on the call with the experience and knowledge actually needed is not allowed access to the target servers.
It works - despite the “change control” process’s best efforts to guarantee failure. The next day a government executive sends out an email congratulating the team on great team work.
==
If you are not muttering “WTF?” to yourself by now – read it again, stupid.
Is it any wonder the Minerals Management Service (MMS) had no contingency plans in place when the Deep Water Horizon rig blew up? Is it any wonder Secretary of Interior Salazar was caught flat-footed? Not to me. MMS is one of no less than eight – count ‘em, eight – operationally independent bureaus falling under the Department of Interior (DOI). Each one has an organizational identity all its’ own. And a congressional budget all its’ own. DOI cannot be managed by anyone, period.
Is it any wonder the Department of Energy (DOE) was formed approximately 35 years ago with the mission to make us independent of foreign oil - and yet we are only more dependent on it now? Not to me. In those three and half decades, DOE has been mostly devoted to subsidizing so-called “renewable” energies that still supply a pathetic percentage of overall demand.
I’m not smart enough to articulate the root cause in this space. But I have seen the symptoms up close and personal. Government employees tend to behave like the worst caricatures of unionized labor. No interest in outcomes, no interest in productivity. Totally interested in protecting their “position” and benefits. Never thinking about how current activities can be improved and performed more efficiently. Definitely never seeking new, innovative, activities that connect to a higher purpose of mission. Because there would only be personal risk in this.
This attitude results in the simplest of activities being Balkanized into absurdly small pieces of turf, that must be protected and justified by absurdly opaque and dense ribbons of red tape designed to confuse the outside observer into seeing heroic complexity in the simplest of tasks.
Gulf Oil Spill Contingency Plan? I’ll bet there’s a document for that. An impossibly dense, confusing, and unrealistic document that cannot possibly be executed and has never been read through, much less actually exercised.
Libertarians and Conservatives are often mischaracterized (sometimes intentionally libeled) as calling for no government involvement in anything. No, that position is more accurately labeled Anarchist. Libertarians and Conservatives espouse limited government to provide a few things that are necessary to secure the liberties of the citizenry and provide for every citizen’s pursuit of happiness. You know, stuff that is good and necessary, but which no sane person would seek to do for profit. Like raise an army to provide for the national defense, or build an interstate highway system to provide for individual mobility (Reflect for a moment on what it is that makes “Easy Rider” the quintessentially American movie).
Somehow, our Founding Fathers must have understood all of this. The genius of the governing framework they devised is in how it inherently limits the powers of government. We know that because they said so.
Here’s a small sampling of quotes.
Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.
George Washington
Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The people themselves are its only safe depositories.
Thomas Jefferson
There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public liberty.
John Adams
I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments by those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.
James Madison
Americans need never fear their government because of the advantage of being armed, which the Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation.
Gouverneur Morris
Here, sir, the people govern; here they act by their immediate representatives.
Alexander Hamilton
Unfortunately, the Founding Fathers don’t seem to have envisioned the need to specifically limit the size of government. I think it went without saying for them. But, in our day, over the past 3-4 generations, we have seen the leviathan grow in size and reach to the point where it seems able to deem new powers by fiat.
That’s why, while thinking about what would make good constitutional amendments in my spare time, I have come around to believing the most useful amendments today would be ones to specifically limit the size of government. For example, capping the federal budget at some reasonable percentage of GDP sounds good - the better to control the insatiable appetite of the beast.
I’ll need to work out the Amendments discussion in my head for a future post. If any of you professional politicians out there would like to get the ball rolling on the Constitutional Convention, I might be motivated to pick up the pace on that one.
==
Let’s start with a little vignette from my own personal experience at a government agency that shall remain nameless. If you don’t have time to read any further, I’ll give you the summary right now as a game of charades.
Two Words. First word – “Cluster.”
The task was to deploy a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) Intranet application with maybe a few hundred users, from a test platform into production. The presentation layer was garden variety .Net forms. The data layer was SQL Server. The business logic – and I mean every single business rule – was entirely contained in SQL stored procedures. Literally only two target servers – web server and database server. The database server took in a couple of data feeds from external systems; all totally read-only and asynchronously connected. I’ll now translate for the non-IT-geek……
….Dirt Simple.
If they had given me administrative access to the two servers, I could have completed the task myself in an hour without breaking a sweat. A competent administrator who actually knew what they were doing could have done it in 20 minutes, including the obligatory cigarette break. Here’s how it actually went down.
I was presented with a three-track approval process. The first track was an incredibly dense documentation exercise for headquarters' “change control” organization. The other two tracks involved two distinct automated help desk ticket processes – one for each target server – even though neither update could work without the other one. You know, because everybody knows you need a completely separate organization for every damn server.
I was given a “handler” to guide me through the maze of the headquarters red tape. His preferred mode of operation was to constantly ping me on Instant Messenger (IM) with new questions and requirements for what was obviously a still evolving “change control process” at this so-called “headquarters.” This process lasted a week or so, including at least four face-to-face meetings. Throughout this process I mostly just fed this guy what he wanted, knowing full well it had next to zero nutritional value. (Any value to speak of was purely CYA in nature.) At the end of all this he gave me his thumbs up, and pronounced my two draft help desk tickets ready to move forward.
Was he ever wrong.
Each of the help desk tickets would require no less than five more levels of approval. Each one added its own unique requirements for new documentation. Mostly it was more documentation with next to zero nutritional value (except for CYA). But, of course, my team is also required to attach precisely detailed installation instructions for servers they’ve never seen, and will never be granted access to, and which are controlled by groups barely willing to take our phone calls. Literally hundreds – perhaps even more than a thousand (I am not insane enough to try to count) – emails, phones, and Instant Messages flew around the digital network. On one of the tickets, the person actually assigned to do the work was approval level one with four left to go.
After maybe two weeks of this bureaucratic nightmare, the big day arrives. A conference call line is opened, consisting of the two people actually doing the work and about a dozen or so other interested parties. The two people doing the work are inexperienced and lack basic skills. The one person on the call with the experience and knowledge actually needed is not allowed access to the target servers.
It works - despite the “change control” process’s best efforts to guarantee failure. The next day a government executive sends out an email congratulating the team on great team work.
==
If you are not muttering “WTF?” to yourself by now – read it again, stupid.
Is it any wonder the Minerals Management Service (MMS) had no contingency plans in place when the Deep Water Horizon rig blew up? Is it any wonder Secretary of Interior Salazar was caught flat-footed? Not to me. MMS is one of no less than eight – count ‘em, eight – operationally independent bureaus falling under the Department of Interior (DOI). Each one has an organizational identity all its’ own. And a congressional budget all its’ own. DOI cannot be managed by anyone, period.
Is it any wonder the Department of Energy (DOE) was formed approximately 35 years ago with the mission to make us independent of foreign oil - and yet we are only more dependent on it now? Not to me. In those three and half decades, DOE has been mostly devoted to subsidizing so-called “renewable” energies that still supply a pathetic percentage of overall demand.
I’m not smart enough to articulate the root cause in this space. But I have seen the symptoms up close and personal. Government employees tend to behave like the worst caricatures of unionized labor. No interest in outcomes, no interest in productivity. Totally interested in protecting their “position” and benefits. Never thinking about how current activities can be improved and performed more efficiently. Definitely never seeking new, innovative, activities that connect to a higher purpose of mission. Because there would only be personal risk in this.
This attitude results in the simplest of activities being Balkanized into absurdly small pieces of turf, that must be protected and justified by absurdly opaque and dense ribbons of red tape designed to confuse the outside observer into seeing heroic complexity in the simplest of tasks.
Gulf Oil Spill Contingency Plan? I’ll bet there’s a document for that. An impossibly dense, confusing, and unrealistic document that cannot possibly be executed and has never been read through, much less actually exercised.
Libertarians and Conservatives are often mischaracterized (sometimes intentionally libeled) as calling for no government involvement in anything. No, that position is more accurately labeled Anarchist. Libertarians and Conservatives espouse limited government to provide a few things that are necessary to secure the liberties of the citizenry and provide for every citizen’s pursuit of happiness. You know, stuff that is good and necessary, but which no sane person would seek to do for profit. Like raise an army to provide for the national defense, or build an interstate highway system to provide for individual mobility (Reflect for a moment on what it is that makes “Easy Rider” the quintessentially American movie).
Somehow, our Founding Fathers must have understood all of this. The genius of the governing framework they devised is in how it inherently limits the powers of government. We know that because they said so.
Here’s a small sampling of quotes.
Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.
George Washington
Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The people themselves are its only safe depositories.
Thomas Jefferson
There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public liberty.
John Adams
I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments by those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.
James Madison
Americans need never fear their government because of the advantage of being armed, which the Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation.
Gouverneur Morris
Here, sir, the people govern; here they act by their immediate representatives.
Alexander Hamilton
Unfortunately, the Founding Fathers don’t seem to have envisioned the need to specifically limit the size of government. I think it went without saying for them. But, in our day, over the past 3-4 generations, we have seen the leviathan grow in size and reach to the point where it seems able to deem new powers by fiat.
That’s why, while thinking about what would make good constitutional amendments in my spare time, I have come around to believing the most useful amendments today would be ones to specifically limit the size of government. For example, capping the federal budget at some reasonable percentage of GDP sounds good - the better to control the insatiable appetite of the beast.
I’ll need to work out the Amendments discussion in my head for a future post. If any of you professional politicians out there would like to get the ball rolling on the Constitutional Convention, I might be motivated to pick up the pace on that one.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Retiring The Conservative Ascendancy Thermotron 2010
This post shall be the final update to the Conservative Ascendancy Thermotron 2010. According to the Nobel prize winning physicist who designed it, a conservative electoral landslide in November is already assured by its present readings.
The Events meter already reached 10 two updates ago. With the original design constraints already exceeded , we now have “Obama’s Watergate” (the Joe Sestak affair) and “Obama’s Katrina” (the BP oil spill) to simultaneously consider. The stars are aligning nicely for the Conservative Ascendancy, indeed.
Despite candidate Obama’s high minded promise to end business as usual in DC, the statements issued by the White House and Joe Sestak have raised more questions than they have answered. This sordid affair now is pregnant with the possibility of becoming “Obama’s Watergate.” The timing of the statements – Friday afternoon before Memorial Day weekend – stinks to high heaven, because it looks they are trying to bury something. Using the impeached liar Bill Clinton as an intermediary stinks to high heaven, because it looks like they knew they needed to distance themselves from it. Claiming the quid pro quo was an unpaid position stinks to high heaven, because it’s highly implausible. The White House contacting Sestak’s brother stinks to high heaven, because it looks like they are covering their tracks. I say separate the conspirators for isolated questioning by a skilled prosecutor - under oath. This is the only way we will ever get to the bottom of whether the attempt to remove Sestak from the primary was merely clumsy and unethical, or in fact illegal.
“Obama’s Katrina” is the catalyst behind a draft essay I’ve been working with – “Why Can’t Government actually DO Anything? (Because It’s Government, Stupid).” But I think I’ll save that one for next time. After all, the crisis still continues with the well still not plugged, despite the Smartest President Ever taking charge four whole days ago. What’s taking so long, Mr. President? Maybe you should hold another Press Conference, or better yet, give a teleprompter speech - that’ll do it.
And by now, the whole country has heard about James Carville’s meltdown on Good Morning America. This makes the man who coined the political phrase “it’s the economy, stupid” (during Mr. Clinton’s 1992 election) the Leftie Lunacy poster child – because he is representative of the Left’s irrational and emotional fantasy belief in the government's ability to solve all problems. Of course, the Leftie Lunacy meter was already pegged at 10, making its contribution to the inevitability of a November electoral landslide without Mr. Carville's help. His meltdown is therefore actually meaningless except for its entertainment value, which is considerable.
GOP / TEA Party alignment is looking good as well. TEA Party patriots are settling into the role of a movement that can act independently and locally to push events on the street, as evidenced by this weekend’s “Stand With Arizona” rally. However, the movement needs an organized political party to do its bidding, if it is to be really effective. The GOP is lately showing every sign of falling into line with its assigned role.
In the last Thermotron update we already mentioned Representative Eric Cantor’s (R-VA) “You Cut” project. Mr. Cantor brings one vote to the House floor per week, based on our input. Last week’s vote would have saved us $30 billion by freezing Federal employee pay – but the Democrat majority shot it down.
Now we have Representative Kevin McCarthy’s (R-CA) “America Speaking Out” project. And even the normally staid and buttoned-down National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) has tuned into the mood of the TEA Party movement, and released this hard hitting video (hat tip to Ruby Slippers).
I think I’ll retire the Thermotron with the GOP / TEA Party alignment meter stuck on nine (9), rather than ten (10). The GOP is, after all, still an organization composed entirely of professional politicos. But at least now it looks like they could become our politicos. Let’s make sure it stays that way. It will require vigilance by We The People for several years to come yet.
It is now definitely a foregone conclusion the Democrats will lose control of the House, and the Senate too. Remember you read it here first (unless Dick Morris already said it, I can’t remember). However, remember that leaves seven months for the Progressive gang to shove as much as they can down our throats before January 2011. It’s who they are. It’s what they do. Liberty vs. Tyranny USA 2010 will not be concluded until the last Progressive desk is cleaned out on Capitol Hill.
And, of course, the Progressive gang will still be scheduled to hold the Executive branch throughout 2011. The good news is We The People will at least have enough power in the Legislative branch to fight a fair fight in the stalemate that now sets up for Liberty vs. Tyranny USA 2011. The really good news We The People will also have effective control over the relevant congressional investigative committees. Consequently, the Thermotron is retired with the probability of impeachment for Barack Hussein Obama set at 2 out of 3; the same ratio needed in Congress to override a Presidential veto.
The Events meter already reached 10 two updates ago. With the original design constraints already exceeded , we now have “Obama’s Watergate” (the Joe Sestak affair) and “Obama’s Katrina” (the BP oil spill) to simultaneously consider. The stars are aligning nicely for the Conservative Ascendancy, indeed.
Despite candidate Obama’s high minded promise to end business as usual in DC, the statements issued by the White House and Joe Sestak have raised more questions than they have answered. This sordid affair now is pregnant with the possibility of becoming “Obama’s Watergate.” The timing of the statements – Friday afternoon before Memorial Day weekend – stinks to high heaven, because it looks they are trying to bury something. Using the impeached liar Bill Clinton as an intermediary stinks to high heaven, because it looks like they knew they needed to distance themselves from it. Claiming the quid pro quo was an unpaid position stinks to high heaven, because it’s highly implausible. The White House contacting Sestak’s brother stinks to high heaven, because it looks like they are covering their tracks. I say separate the conspirators for isolated questioning by a skilled prosecutor - under oath. This is the only way we will ever get to the bottom of whether the attempt to remove Sestak from the primary was merely clumsy and unethical, or in fact illegal.
“Obama’s Katrina” is the catalyst behind a draft essay I’ve been working with – “Why Can’t Government actually DO Anything? (Because It’s Government, Stupid).” But I think I’ll save that one for next time. After all, the crisis still continues with the well still not plugged, despite the Smartest President Ever taking charge four whole days ago. What’s taking so long, Mr. President? Maybe you should hold another Press Conference, or better yet, give a teleprompter speech - that’ll do it.
And by now, the whole country has heard about James Carville’s meltdown on Good Morning America. This makes the man who coined the political phrase “it’s the economy, stupid” (during Mr. Clinton’s 1992 election) the Leftie Lunacy poster child – because he is representative of the Left’s irrational and emotional fantasy belief in the government's ability to solve all problems. Of course, the Leftie Lunacy meter was already pegged at 10, making its contribution to the inevitability of a November electoral landslide without Mr. Carville's help. His meltdown is therefore actually meaningless except for its entertainment value, which is considerable.
GOP / TEA Party alignment is looking good as well. TEA Party patriots are settling into the role of a movement that can act independently and locally to push events on the street, as evidenced by this weekend’s “Stand With Arizona” rally. However, the movement needs an organized political party to do its bidding, if it is to be really effective. The GOP is lately showing every sign of falling into line with its assigned role.
In the last Thermotron update we already mentioned Representative Eric Cantor’s (R-VA) “You Cut” project. Mr. Cantor brings one vote to the House floor per week, based on our input. Last week’s vote would have saved us $30 billion by freezing Federal employee pay – but the Democrat majority shot it down.
Now we have Representative Kevin McCarthy’s (R-CA) “America Speaking Out” project. And even the normally staid and buttoned-down National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) has tuned into the mood of the TEA Party movement, and released this hard hitting video (hat tip to Ruby Slippers).
I think I’ll retire the Thermotron with the GOP / TEA Party alignment meter stuck on nine (9), rather than ten (10). The GOP is, after all, still an organization composed entirely of professional politicos. But at least now it looks like they could become our politicos. Let’s make sure it stays that way. It will require vigilance by We The People for several years to come yet.
It is now definitely a foregone conclusion the Democrats will lose control of the House, and the Senate too. Remember you read it here first (unless Dick Morris already said it, I can’t remember). However, remember that leaves seven months for the Progressive gang to shove as much as they can down our throats before January 2011. It’s who they are. It’s what they do. Liberty vs. Tyranny USA 2010 will not be concluded until the last Progressive desk is cleaned out on Capitol Hill.
And, of course, the Progressive gang will still be scheduled to hold the Executive branch throughout 2011. The good news is We The People will at least have enough power in the Legislative branch to fight a fair fight in the stalemate that now sets up for Liberty vs. Tyranny USA 2011. The really good news We The People will also have effective control over the relevant congressional investigative committees. Consequently, the Thermotron is retired with the probability of impeachment for Barack Hussein Obama set at 2 out of 3; the same ratio needed in Congress to override a Presidential veto.
Monday, May 24, 2010
On The Enlightenment
The initial spark for this post came when I read this article on Reason.Com – in which a hero of the Left, the Beat Poet Allen Ginsberg, is said to show intolerance toward a New York cabbie’s religious views. The scene was set in 1989, and the Ayatollah Khomeini had just sentenced Salman Rushdie to death for the content of his book. (I believe the term of art is “fatwa.”) The cabbie, of course, was a Muslim.
The concluding catch-phrase in this article really hooked me - “You want to kill the Enlightenment, you’re going to have to come through me.” It also apparently captures a sentiment that is widespread throughout western society today, as evidenced by the huge response to Everybody Draw Mohammed Day.
What is it about western society that allows this sort of spontaneous, voluntary, decentralized, creative, and powerfully focused cultural event? One could argue the Age of Enlightenment is the wellspring that made it possible.
The Age of Enlightenment is a strictly western historical phenomenon – there is no direct parallel in eastern societies, and it shows. The Age of Enlightenment is a deep subject to tackle in and of itself. For this post, let’s use this working short-hand definition from the Wikipedia article:
In his famous essay "What is Enlightenment?" (1784), Immanuel Kant described it simply as freedom to use one's own intelligence.
I guess I’ll throw in this slightly lengthier shot at pinning it down, also from Wikipedia:
Dorinda Outram provides a good example of a standard, intellectual definition of the Enlightenment:
Enlightenment was a desire for human affairs to be guided by rationality rather than by faith, superstition, or revelation; a belief in the power of human reason to change society and liberate the individual from the restraints of custom or arbitrary authority; all backed up by a world view increasingly validated by science rather than by religion or tradition.
==
The Scientific Method is of The Enlightenment. Subverting the Scientific Method to skew data toward an ideologically driven conclusion is antithetical to the Enlightenment – see “Climate Gate.”
The American Founding Fathers were children of the Enlightenment. They created the most perfect governing framework yet conceived; based on the inalienable rights of every individual, and designed specifically to limit the authoritarian power of government to infringe on those rights. Those of us now actively engaged in protecting the integrity of the American Founding are of the Enlightenment.
The ideals of our judicial system – symbolized by Lady Justice’s blindfold – are based on the concept of equal justice for all. This vision is of the Enlightenment. The contemporary American Left’s obsession with race, gender, and sexual politics is antithetical to the Enlightenment.
The most existentially dangerous enemy of the Enlightenment we face today may be Radical Islamic Jihadism. But coming in a very close second is the contemporary American Left - the enablers of this international murder cult.
You see, the American Left is afflicted with the mental disease known as Political Correctness (PC). The disease of PC can present with the symptom of moral relativism, preventing its host from recognizing evil when he or she sees it, and acting accordingly to defend oneself against it. The great peril of our day is that the PC-blinded American Left runs our government at precisely the time the Jihadi tide is rising.
PC is not of the Enlightenment at all. PC is irrational.
PC offers a rigid set of dogmatic rules to its adherents, which often drives them into fits of hypocrisy – as with this ideologically addled beatnick.
PC causes its victims to fear the utterance of scary words – as with this incomprehensible incompetent.
PC causes its victims to lose perspective on their priorities – as with this confused old man.
PC even causes its victims to forget they have a national identity – as with our Apoligizer-In-Chief.
Or the entire Democrat caucus for that matter …
We simply must clean House in November if the American republic is to be preserved and the Enlightenment is to be perpetuated.
Footnote
The ink was hardly dry on this post and this fresh evidence of Lefty PC madness surfaced. Is there a patriotic Democrat left anywhere in the nation? Brussels? AYKM?
The concluding catch-phrase in this article really hooked me - “You want to kill the Enlightenment, you’re going to have to come through me.” It also apparently captures a sentiment that is widespread throughout western society today, as evidenced by the huge response to Everybody Draw Mohammed Day.
What is it about western society that allows this sort of spontaneous, voluntary, decentralized, creative, and powerfully focused cultural event? One could argue the Age of Enlightenment is the wellspring that made it possible.
The Age of Enlightenment is a strictly western historical phenomenon – there is no direct parallel in eastern societies, and it shows. The Age of Enlightenment is a deep subject to tackle in and of itself. For this post, let’s use this working short-hand definition from the Wikipedia article:
In his famous essay "What is Enlightenment?" (1784), Immanuel Kant described it simply as freedom to use one's own intelligence.
I guess I’ll throw in this slightly lengthier shot at pinning it down, also from Wikipedia:
Dorinda Outram provides a good example of a standard, intellectual definition of the Enlightenment:
Enlightenment was a desire for human affairs to be guided by rationality rather than by faith, superstition, or revelation; a belief in the power of human reason to change society and liberate the individual from the restraints of custom or arbitrary authority; all backed up by a world view increasingly validated by science rather than by religion or tradition.
==
The Scientific Method is of The Enlightenment. Subverting the Scientific Method to skew data toward an ideologically driven conclusion is antithetical to the Enlightenment – see “Climate Gate.”
The American Founding Fathers were children of the Enlightenment. They created the most perfect governing framework yet conceived; based on the inalienable rights of every individual, and designed specifically to limit the authoritarian power of government to infringe on those rights. Those of us now actively engaged in protecting the integrity of the American Founding are of the Enlightenment.
The ideals of our judicial system – symbolized by Lady Justice’s blindfold – are based on the concept of equal justice for all. This vision is of the Enlightenment. The contemporary American Left’s obsession with race, gender, and sexual politics is antithetical to the Enlightenment.
The most existentially dangerous enemy of the Enlightenment we face today may be Radical Islamic Jihadism. But coming in a very close second is the contemporary American Left - the enablers of this international murder cult.
You see, the American Left is afflicted with the mental disease known as Political Correctness (PC). The disease of PC can present with the symptom of moral relativism, preventing its host from recognizing evil when he or she sees it, and acting accordingly to defend oneself against it. The great peril of our day is that the PC-blinded American Left runs our government at precisely the time the Jihadi tide is rising.
PC is not of the Enlightenment at all. PC is irrational.
PC offers a rigid set of dogmatic rules to its adherents, which often drives them into fits of hypocrisy – as with this ideologically addled beatnick.
PC causes its victims to fear the utterance of scary words – as with this incomprehensible incompetent.
PC causes its victims to lose perspective on their priorities – as with this confused old man.
PC even causes its victims to forget they have a national identity – as with our Apoligizer-In-Chief.
Or the entire Democrat caucus for that matter …
We simply must clean House in November if the American republic is to be preserved and the Enlightenment is to be perpetuated.
Footnote
The ink was hardly dry on this post and this fresh evidence of Lefty PC madness surfaced. Is there a patriotic Democrat left anywhere in the nation? Brussels? AYKM?
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
If It’s May 20, It Must Be ….
… Everybody Draw Mohammed Day.
Yes, I know it’s not strictly speaking an “illustration.” Sorry, but I just don’t have those skills. However, on the bright side, I can appeal the fatwa on a technicality.
The subject dog is my 160 pound female Great Dane. I heard her say “biscuit u akbar!” once, and you can be sure I damn well did give her the biscuit.
You might be noticing that, as a harlequin Great Dane, she could be classified as multi-racial. I’m hoping this earns me PC credits to offset the PC demerits I’ll be receiving for cultural insensitivity.
==
And it’s a good time for a Thermotron update, too.
The Events and Leftie Lunacy meters are already pegged at 10 (earlier than even I anticipated.) There’s nowhere for them to go but 11. Unfortunately, these meters were not designed by Spinal Tap.
The Events meter may be permanently stuck on 10, but the poster children keep coming. The latest event of note was this Tuesday’s primary election results. I have chosen ideological opposites Joe Sestak (D) and Rand Paul (R) as the poster children. Reams and reams of MSM analysis today gives us the shallow analysis there is an anti-establishment mood out in the country. No shit, Sherlock!
The shallow MSM analysis is true as far as it goes. But, if you want to really understand what’s happening – read my January 11 post “Contemporary Politics and Newton’s Three Laws of Motion.” What remains of the Democrat party “base” is increasingly liberal, and increasingly a minority of the general population. Expect more Democrat nominees with policy positions similar to Joe Sestak in 2010. On the other hand, the great bulk of the American electorate is awakening to its fundamentally conservative nature. Expect more Republican nominees and third party candidates with policy positions like Rand Paul’s to be pitted against the Democrats in the 2010 general election.
This will be good for the future of the republic. Let’s have a knock-down, drag out, partisan battle in the 2010 midterms - with stark, bright, and transparent (unlike 2006 and 2008) ideological dividing lines. Let’s stop screwing around in our politics, and decide once and for all if we want to be a wimpy social democracy or the exceptional individualistic America the Founders envisioned. The closest thing I could find to an insightful regular media analysis on this was from a local ABC affiliate in Philadelphia.
I will increase the probability of impeachment for Barack Hussein Obama by 2 percentage points because the establishment politician vanquished by Joe Sestak, Arlen Specter, is now incentivized to start talking openly about the unethical and illegal job offer the White House proffered to Sestak to get out of the race. Sestak will be similarly incentivized to start singing when he loses the general election.
The twin poster children for the Leftie Lunacy meter are Janet Napolitano and Eric Holder. Why do these two clowns still have their jobs? It has been one pratfall after another for these two; from Napolitano’s moronic “right wing extremists memo,” to Holder’s ongoing KSM trial circus, one embarrassing congressional testimony after another, and now the latest – neither of them has even bothered to read Arizona’s immigration enforcement law (it’s only 16 pages) before going public with full-throated opposition. Just pathetic. And there is not even room to include Michael Posner (it doesn’t go to 11).
GOP / TEA Party alignment is slightly increased by Republican Whip Eric Cantor's latest project. Hey, at least they are trying.
Update - May 22
The winners now stand on the podium. Thank you to all the (real) illustrators who participated in this patriotic contest.
http://reason-contest.s3.amazonaws.com/index.html
2nd Update - May 22
My personal favorite from http://chicagoboyz.net/
Yes, I know it’s not strictly speaking an “illustration.” Sorry, but I just don’t have those skills. However, on the bright side, I can appeal the fatwa on a technicality.
The subject dog is my 160 pound female Great Dane. I heard her say “biscuit u akbar!” once, and you can be sure I damn well did give her the biscuit.
You might be noticing that, as a harlequin Great Dane, she could be classified as multi-racial. I’m hoping this earns me PC credits to offset the PC demerits I’ll be receiving for cultural insensitivity.
==
And it’s a good time for a Thermotron update, too.
The Events and Leftie Lunacy meters are already pegged at 10 (earlier than even I anticipated.) There’s nowhere for them to go but 11. Unfortunately, these meters were not designed by Spinal Tap.
The Events meter may be permanently stuck on 10, but the poster children keep coming. The latest event of note was this Tuesday’s primary election results. I have chosen ideological opposites Joe Sestak (D) and Rand Paul (R) as the poster children. Reams and reams of MSM analysis today gives us the shallow analysis there is an anti-establishment mood out in the country. No shit, Sherlock!
The shallow MSM analysis is true as far as it goes. But, if you want to really understand what’s happening – read my January 11 post “Contemporary Politics and Newton’s Three Laws of Motion.” What remains of the Democrat party “base” is increasingly liberal, and increasingly a minority of the general population. Expect more Democrat nominees with policy positions similar to Joe Sestak in 2010. On the other hand, the great bulk of the American electorate is awakening to its fundamentally conservative nature. Expect more Republican nominees and third party candidates with policy positions like Rand Paul’s to be pitted against the Democrats in the 2010 general election.
This will be good for the future of the republic. Let’s have a knock-down, drag out, partisan battle in the 2010 midterms - with stark, bright, and transparent (unlike 2006 and 2008) ideological dividing lines. Let’s stop screwing around in our politics, and decide once and for all if we want to be a wimpy social democracy or the exceptional individualistic America the Founders envisioned. The closest thing I could find to an insightful regular media analysis on this was from a local ABC affiliate in Philadelphia.
I will increase the probability of impeachment for Barack Hussein Obama by 2 percentage points because the establishment politician vanquished by Joe Sestak, Arlen Specter, is now incentivized to start talking openly about the unethical and illegal job offer the White House proffered to Sestak to get out of the race. Sestak will be similarly incentivized to start singing when he loses the general election.
The twin poster children for the Leftie Lunacy meter are Janet Napolitano and Eric Holder. Why do these two clowns still have their jobs? It has been one pratfall after another for these two; from Napolitano’s moronic “right wing extremists memo,” to Holder’s ongoing KSM trial circus, one embarrassing congressional testimony after another, and now the latest – neither of them has even bothered to read Arizona’s immigration enforcement law (it’s only 16 pages) before going public with full-throated opposition. Just pathetic. And there is not even room to include Michael Posner (it doesn’t go to 11).
GOP / TEA Party alignment is slightly increased by Republican Whip Eric Cantor's latest project. Hey, at least they are trying.
Update - May 22
The winners now stand on the podium. Thank you to all the (real) illustrators who participated in this patriotic contest.
http://reason-contest.s3.amazonaws.com/index.html
2nd Update - May 22
My personal favorite from http://chicagoboyz.net/
Friday, May 14, 2010
A Day In The Life: Liberty vs. Tyranny USA 2010
Yes, the post title is a veiled reference to the Beatles’ song – one of my favorites in a catalog I consider mostly overrated by the general populace.
I have a more or less repeatable, if not exactly auditable, process for writing my blog posts.
I try to allocate 1-2 hours most days to review the day’s news online. The time allocation is sometimes a little less, sometimes a little more, depending on circumstances. As an aside, just in the past year or so I made the decision to stop reading printed newspapers altogether. (My personal journey from “paperboy” throwing printed newspapers onto porches, while riding bicycle, to my current mode of acquiring news entirely online, might just be a good idea for a future posting. But I digress.)
I have a couple of dozen news, opinion, and blog sites on my long list. I have a loosely defined top 3 (short list), and top 5 (medium list?) that I can fall back on when time is tight. All of these sites are basically national in nature. Regardless of which list I’m working off of, the nature of the Internet (sites linking to other sites) often brings me to local media sites. This has resulted in me occasionally commenting on local boards all across America, as well as internationally on boards in countries as unlikely as Israel and India. I use this phase of operations to consider what my next post might contain. Usually I am listening to my customized Pandora radio stream while this phase of operations is in progress.
I also use this phase of operations to essentially “market” my blog by posting comments, with my URL as a signature. I will only post comments that are relevant to the parent article, and will only post comments to articles that connect to the content of my blog. (The connection is always real in my mind – but I do admit it may sometimes be tenuous to the outside observer.)
I have been rebuked exactly once by another blogger (a Lefty of course) for violating etiquette by signing my comment. Not that it mattered to me in that particular instance, or or will ever matter if it occurs again. I will contend before the Creator Himself my practice is decidedly NOT spamming - because I am disciplined about following the rules previously stated. Plus the practice allows me to later submit Internet searches to reassemble the comments as a complete set on demand. I even provide a convenient link on my blog for anyone else to do exactly this; the link I call “random droppings.” A completely transparent and fully integrated Internet personality – what could be more American, I ask you? In this spirit of transparent disclosure, I should point out I have also settled on the Daily Caller as my home court. The Daily Caller is the only site where I try to make sure I am notified of all replies to my comments, so as to subsequently ensure I always get the last word in (which seems very important in the blogosphere – go figure.)
While going through my daily drudgery (day job and all that), I perform thought experiments when circumstances allow - to first select a theme, and to then outline the content of the selected theme for the next posting. When I reach the point of believing it is worthy of sharing with other people, I’ll move on to publishing. When I started this blog project the rate of production was approximately 2 posts a week. I think going forward the rate will be a little slower – maybe 1.4 per week. There is a kind of creative frenzy involved in creating a process *versus* a kind of lazy comfort associated with settling into the process. Or maybe it’s a case of undiagnosed A.D.D. I have with defined processes. I’ve seen it in myself before.
Most of the past week I was mentally working with a theme around the idea of recent news reports being comparatively quiet under the current administration. Just because nothing blew up without explanation, and no one was witnessed screaming “Allah u Akbar” while inflicting mayhem on anyone who happens to be in their proximity. But day to day it just felt weak, and unworthy of publishing.
Then I participated in this comment exchange on the Daily Caller’s board.
It motivated me to switch gears and give birth to the posting you are now reading.
The thought experiment process for this post mostly occurred today on the lunch time walk I regularly take when weather allows.
The publication process is usually pretty quick - because the post is damn near already written mentally when I’m satisfied with the thought experiment. Draft in Word; grammar check; fact check; copy/paste to blogger, final formatting touches. Wham, Bam, thank you ma’am (gratuitous David Bowie reference).
The theme of this post is finishing the conservation with @PartisonPoision (whoever the hell that is).
@PartisanPoison, my friend, I am reminded of a phrase the Army sometimes uses – “situational awareness.” The present situation is very perilous. It, therefore, calls for extreme measures. Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice (gratuitous Barry Goldwater reference).
Making reference to the recent analysis of Tony Blankely (critically important lieutenant in Newt Gingrich’s 1994 Conservative Revolution) – the 40 to 50 percent of us who are “shocked and appalled” by the policies of BHO and the Progressives are motivated. Motivated to spend our time and treasure to push back against their unprecedented assault on the American Founding and our liberties. Motivated to keep up the drum beat until BHO and the Progressives are removed from power once and for all.
In short, we are pissed off. Simply run down my blog roll to begin to grasp the tip of the iceberg. Backyard Conservative in Chicago looks pissed off to me. Sharp Elbows in St. Louis looks pissed off to me. Neo-Neocon in New England looks pissed off to me. And on and on. At an early stage in this blog project I considered trying to include an exhaustive list of conservative bloggers. It didn’t take me long to realize this was an impractical objective (for me), because there are simply too many. But, never fear, if anyone out there wishes to take on this task – just follow the links. Think of it as LinkedIn for Conservative Bloggers. (Funny aside – I myself am 3rd degree connection to Barack Obama himself on LinkedIn. Then again, I often get people listed in “people you may know” on LinkedIn I would never, ever, recognize on the street.) And, guess what – we (the pissed off) can read, write, and we vote- every single time. And we have decided (individually – no conspiracy committee meeting required) to begin by clearing the field in the blogosphere.
So, @PartisanPoison, if you want to have a cordial conversation about politics, choose an older mode of interaction, with more cordial rules of engagement; like face-to-face or email. We (the pissed off) intend to clear the field in the blogosphere - using the rules of engagement we inherited from the contemptible Left. From contemptible Leftie sites like MoveOn.org and HuffingtonPost.Com (who, incidentally, has banned me from commenting for no reason but my opinion – see my April 6 post here. LOL.) We intend to clear the blogosphere field of these contemptible Lefties. We will consider revising the rules of engagement once the field is cleared of the contemptible Left.
I have a more or less repeatable, if not exactly auditable, process for writing my blog posts.
I try to allocate 1-2 hours most days to review the day’s news online. The time allocation is sometimes a little less, sometimes a little more, depending on circumstances. As an aside, just in the past year or so I made the decision to stop reading printed newspapers altogether. (My personal journey from “paperboy” throwing printed newspapers onto porches, while riding bicycle, to my current mode of acquiring news entirely online, might just be a good idea for a future posting. But I digress.)
I have a couple of dozen news, opinion, and blog sites on my long list. I have a loosely defined top 3 (short list), and top 5 (medium list?) that I can fall back on when time is tight. All of these sites are basically national in nature. Regardless of which list I’m working off of, the nature of the Internet (sites linking to other sites) often brings me to local media sites. This has resulted in me occasionally commenting on local boards all across America, as well as internationally on boards in countries as unlikely as Israel and India. I use this phase of operations to consider what my next post might contain. Usually I am listening to my customized Pandora radio stream while this phase of operations is in progress.
I also use this phase of operations to essentially “market” my blog by posting comments, with my URL as a signature. I will only post comments that are relevant to the parent article, and will only post comments to articles that connect to the content of my blog. (The connection is always real in my mind – but I do admit it may sometimes be tenuous to the outside observer.)
I have been rebuked exactly once by another blogger (a Lefty of course) for violating etiquette by signing my comment. Not that it mattered to me in that particular instance, or or will ever matter if it occurs again. I will contend before the Creator Himself my practice is decidedly NOT spamming - because I am disciplined about following the rules previously stated. Plus the practice allows me to later submit Internet searches to reassemble the comments as a complete set on demand. I even provide a convenient link on my blog for anyone else to do exactly this; the link I call “random droppings.” A completely transparent and fully integrated Internet personality – what could be more American, I ask you? In this spirit of transparent disclosure, I should point out I have also settled on the Daily Caller as my home court. The Daily Caller is the only site where I try to make sure I am notified of all replies to my comments, so as to subsequently ensure I always get the last word in (which seems very important in the blogosphere – go figure.)
While going through my daily drudgery (day job and all that), I perform thought experiments when circumstances allow - to first select a theme, and to then outline the content of the selected theme for the next posting. When I reach the point of believing it is worthy of sharing with other people, I’ll move on to publishing. When I started this blog project the rate of production was approximately 2 posts a week. I think going forward the rate will be a little slower – maybe 1.4 per week. There is a kind of creative frenzy involved in creating a process *versus* a kind of lazy comfort associated with settling into the process. Or maybe it’s a case of undiagnosed A.D.D. I have with defined processes. I’ve seen it in myself before.
Most of the past week I was mentally working with a theme around the idea of recent news reports being comparatively quiet under the current administration. Just because nothing blew up without explanation, and no one was witnessed screaming “Allah u Akbar” while inflicting mayhem on anyone who happens to be in their proximity. But day to day it just felt weak, and unworthy of publishing.
Then I participated in this comment exchange on the Daily Caller’s board.
It motivated me to switch gears and give birth to the posting you are now reading.
The thought experiment process for this post mostly occurred today on the lunch time walk I regularly take when weather allows.
The publication process is usually pretty quick - because the post is damn near already written mentally when I’m satisfied with the thought experiment. Draft in Word; grammar check; fact check; copy/paste to blogger, final formatting touches. Wham, Bam, thank you ma’am (gratuitous David Bowie reference).
The theme of this post is finishing the conservation with @PartisonPoision (whoever the hell that is).
@PartisanPoison, my friend, I am reminded of a phrase the Army sometimes uses – “situational awareness.” The present situation is very perilous. It, therefore, calls for extreme measures. Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice (gratuitous Barry Goldwater reference).
Making reference to the recent analysis of Tony Blankely (critically important lieutenant in Newt Gingrich’s 1994 Conservative Revolution) – the 40 to 50 percent of us who are “shocked and appalled” by the policies of BHO and the Progressives are motivated. Motivated to spend our time and treasure to push back against their unprecedented assault on the American Founding and our liberties. Motivated to keep up the drum beat until BHO and the Progressives are removed from power once and for all.
In short, we are pissed off. Simply run down my blog roll to begin to grasp the tip of the iceberg. Backyard Conservative in Chicago looks pissed off to me. Sharp Elbows in St. Louis looks pissed off to me. Neo-Neocon in New England looks pissed off to me. And on and on. At an early stage in this blog project I considered trying to include an exhaustive list of conservative bloggers. It didn’t take me long to realize this was an impractical objective (for me), because there are simply too many. But, never fear, if anyone out there wishes to take on this task – just follow the links. Think of it as LinkedIn for Conservative Bloggers. (Funny aside – I myself am 3rd degree connection to Barack Obama himself on LinkedIn. Then again, I often get people listed in “people you may know” on LinkedIn I would never, ever, recognize on the street.) And, guess what – we (the pissed off) can read, write, and we vote- every single time. And we have decided (individually – no conspiracy committee meeting required) to begin by clearing the field in the blogosphere.
So, @PartisanPoison, if you want to have a cordial conversation about politics, choose an older mode of interaction, with more cordial rules of engagement; like face-to-face or email. We (the pissed off) intend to clear the field in the blogosphere - using the rules of engagement we inherited from the contemptible Left. From contemptible Leftie sites like MoveOn.org and HuffingtonPost.Com (who, incidentally, has banned me from commenting for no reason but my opinion – see my April 6 post here. LOL.) We intend to clear the blogosphere field of these contemptible Lefties. We will consider revising the rules of engagement once the field is cleared of the contemptible Left.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Great Minds Think Alike
I’ve always liked smart people who are able to take seemingly complex issues, then break them down to arrive at common sense solutions. The best of this type often possess this rare combination of abilities: they can use big words artfully, and express big ideas succinctly.
This could explain what I saw in William F. Buckley, Jr. before I even knew what a “pundit” was. During the late 80’s and early to mid 90’s, when I had the disposable time and energy to make punditry a regular spectator sport, my favorite commentator was George F. Will. The pairing of Mr. Will against Sam Donaldson on This Week with David Brinkley was a weekly mismatch. From the mid 90’s until Mr. Obama’s election, I mostly took my eye off the punditry ball – things like making a living and raising a family had a way of consuming more and more time and energy with each passing year. But when the abuses heaped on the republic by BHO and the Progressives reawakened my interest in punditry, it was easy to see that the head of the punditry class in 2009-2010 is Charles Krauthammer.
A quick aside on George Will. Am the only one noticing he is lately showing less patience with his liberal foils? It’s almost as if Mr. Will understands the stakes for the republic now outweigh his need to maintain a pretense of civility to protect his insider status inside the beltway. I encourage Mr. Will to continue unceremoniously dressing down liberal fools as he did on this panel. The republic needs his considerable intellect fully deployed to hold back the foolishness of the Progressive hoards.
But I digress. The inspiration for this post was a column written by Mr. Krauthammer, in which he applies his considerable intellect to a topic I’ve been thinking about in my spare time lately (hence the post title).
Now, far be it for me to suggest my “mind” is as “great” as Mr. Krauthammer’s. Nor will I suggest my prose is anywhere near as polished as this master’s prose. I will, however, give myself credit for seeing the same *^%$#!!@!#!!* policy problem the previous administration left us with, and the current administration has only made worse.
The obvious problem is the total lack of a coherent national policy for dealing effectively with Radical Islamic Jihadism. Mr. Krauthammer, in his opinion piece, aims at the more difficult target of giving useful advice that has a chance of being implemented by the current administration (pearls to swine, good luck with that). I will simply describe my view of the correct policy (just because I can).
The root problem, as I see it, is the legal and national defense assumptions we have inherited need some reformation. Now, to my conservative mind, “reformation” means “slight tweaking,” not “fundamental transformation.” Let’s just get that straight before proceeding further.
During most of our history, we made two assumptions that were generally mostly true: (1) citizens would be loyal to the nation, and (2) threats of war would originate from outside our national borders. Yes, we had Benedict Arnold, Alger Hiss, and other occasional traitors – but these were the exceptions that proved the rule.
The uniquely new problem presented by Radical Islamic Jihadism is twofold: (1) the threat (for the most part) is not presented by standing armies, and (2) the enemy’s foot soldiers are trans-national. It is, in fact, a war with a profile that is at least as legal as it is military. That is what’s new and unique.
Up until now, the choice between treating the issue of Radical Islamic Jihad as a war, or as a legal problem, has been presented as choice between two distinct models. I’ve made no secret my position given this “either/or” choice can be summarized as “it’s a war, stupid” – because with the legal approach you are effectively required to wait for the bomb to explode to make the arrest, and that is just an unacceptably defenseless position to be in.
But I’ve come around to realizing we need something new that combines the military and the legal poles. My policy recommendation, in summary, is to aggressively prosecute a clandestine offensive war and a technological defensive war abroad, while also implementing a well-defined legal prosecution program domestically.
The War Abroad
Mr. Bush’s decision to pursue regime change in Iraq through invasion can be debated. It was debated at the time and the Congress approved it with the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002. After much expense of American blood and treasure, the laudable result might still be a functioning Arab democracy – but that outcome still remains in question for the long haul. The current administration’s policies do not bode well for the future of this fragile democracy. Military action in Afghanistan was initially seen as an unmitigated success in 2002. Yet, we still have troops there today, and the current administration’s bumbling practically guarantees Afghanistan will return to chaos when we finally withdraw. Predator drones and other ordinance dropped from the air often create collateral damage and unintended victims, which probably does create more terrorists to kill or capture later (as some Lefties claim, and now Mr. Faisal Shahzad declares).
These observations only make more concrete a position I’ve espoused over the past 9 years or so – “it just needs to be about capturing and killing terrorists.” Recent mulling over the matter brings me to the more precise declaration “we need make it about precisely one bullet for each terrorist.”
Offensively, we need to dispatch small Special Forces units and trained assassins to specifically target individual terrorists. The CIA human intelligence function should be full bore on collecting foreign intelligence abroad. The NSA technical intelligence function should be set up to tap into every inch of the global communications network as necessary. Every Radical Islamist Jihadi in every foreign country should live in constant fear of black helicopters spilling out Green Berets, or Navy SEALs emerging from the nearest body of water, to kill or capture them.
Defensively, we need to aggressively pursue anti-ballistic missile (ABM) defense shields for ourselves and our allies, to protect us from rogue states with terrorist connections and nuclear ambitions (like Iran).
Large conventional force deployments abroad for years at a time are simply too divisive to our body politic, and – if we pursue my recommendations – just plain unnecessary.
My policy will still require a place to hold enemy Prisoners of War (POWs) until the enemy ceases hostilities. I defy anyone to demonstrate there is a more perfect solution than the facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Domestic Legal Prosecutions
Domestic legal policy needs to effectively deal with foreigners abusing our freedoms to operate inside our borders, as well as citizens who decide to become traitors.
First – the border with Mexico must be secured. In its current state, it can be too easily exploited by terrorists with evil intentions.
Second, the naturalization process must be able to weed out the Jihadis who are abusing the system to become citizens for infiltration purposes (e.g. Faisal Shahzad).
The common denominator connecting objectives one and two is the necessary death of Political Correctness (PC). This is, of course, a topic that could fill an entire treatise in itself. Let it be sufficient here to say PC proscriptions against “profiling” should be no impediment to doing the work and reaching the logical conclusions to keep illegal immigrants out, and to deny citizenship to Jihadis who seek it only to prosecute their war.
The linchpin is a transparently defined system for law enforcement (primarily FBI) to demonstrate reasonable suspicion to a judge, so that a warrant can be issued to slap the cuffs on a guy like Mr. Shahzad before he lights the SUV up in the middle of Times Square.
If the suspect is a foreign national, he or she should get a one way ticket to Guantanamo for a speedy military tribunal. Conviction should result in indefinite detention as an illegal enemy combatant POW under the Geneva Conventions.
If the suspect is a citizen, he or she should be charged with treason and tried in a civilian court. Conviction should result in execution per existing US law.
Comments from loyal US citizens welcome.
Addendum –May 10, 2010
I should fill in a hole in my policy recommendations. What should we do with American citizens who join the Jihad and go operational overseas? Take, for example, Anwar al-Awlaki. Easy – try and convict them of treason in absentia. They then become eligible to receive justice from a hellfire missile or one of our assassins – and with due process, too.
This could explain what I saw in William F. Buckley, Jr. before I even knew what a “pundit” was. During the late 80’s and early to mid 90’s, when I had the disposable time and energy to make punditry a regular spectator sport, my favorite commentator was George F. Will. The pairing of Mr. Will against Sam Donaldson on This Week with David Brinkley was a weekly mismatch. From the mid 90’s until Mr. Obama’s election, I mostly took my eye off the punditry ball – things like making a living and raising a family had a way of consuming more and more time and energy with each passing year. But when the abuses heaped on the republic by BHO and the Progressives reawakened my interest in punditry, it was easy to see that the head of the punditry class in 2009-2010 is Charles Krauthammer.
A quick aside on George Will. Am the only one noticing he is lately showing less patience with his liberal foils? It’s almost as if Mr. Will understands the stakes for the republic now outweigh his need to maintain a pretense of civility to protect his insider status inside the beltway. I encourage Mr. Will to continue unceremoniously dressing down liberal fools as he did on this panel. The republic needs his considerable intellect fully deployed to hold back the foolishness of the Progressive hoards.
But I digress. The inspiration for this post was a column written by Mr. Krauthammer, in which he applies his considerable intellect to a topic I’ve been thinking about in my spare time lately (hence the post title).
Now, far be it for me to suggest my “mind” is as “great” as Mr. Krauthammer’s. Nor will I suggest my prose is anywhere near as polished as this master’s prose. I will, however, give myself credit for seeing the same *^%$#!!@!#!!* policy problem the previous administration left us with, and the current administration has only made worse.
The obvious problem is the total lack of a coherent national policy for dealing effectively with Radical Islamic Jihadism. Mr. Krauthammer, in his opinion piece, aims at the more difficult target of giving useful advice that has a chance of being implemented by the current administration (pearls to swine, good luck with that). I will simply describe my view of the correct policy (just because I can).
The root problem, as I see it, is the legal and national defense assumptions we have inherited need some reformation. Now, to my conservative mind, “reformation” means “slight tweaking,” not “fundamental transformation.” Let’s just get that straight before proceeding further.
During most of our history, we made two assumptions that were generally mostly true: (1) citizens would be loyal to the nation, and (2) threats of war would originate from outside our national borders. Yes, we had Benedict Arnold, Alger Hiss, and other occasional traitors – but these were the exceptions that proved the rule.
The uniquely new problem presented by Radical Islamic Jihadism is twofold: (1) the threat (for the most part) is not presented by standing armies, and (2) the enemy’s foot soldiers are trans-national. It is, in fact, a war with a profile that is at least as legal as it is military. That is what’s new and unique.
Up until now, the choice between treating the issue of Radical Islamic Jihad as a war, or as a legal problem, has been presented as choice between two distinct models. I’ve made no secret my position given this “either/or” choice can be summarized as “it’s a war, stupid” – because with the legal approach you are effectively required to wait for the bomb to explode to make the arrest, and that is just an unacceptably defenseless position to be in.
But I’ve come around to realizing we need something new that combines the military and the legal poles. My policy recommendation, in summary, is to aggressively prosecute a clandestine offensive war and a technological defensive war abroad, while also implementing a well-defined legal prosecution program domestically.
The War Abroad
Mr. Bush’s decision to pursue regime change in Iraq through invasion can be debated. It was debated at the time and the Congress approved it with the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002. After much expense of American blood and treasure, the laudable result might still be a functioning Arab democracy – but that outcome still remains in question for the long haul. The current administration’s policies do not bode well for the future of this fragile democracy. Military action in Afghanistan was initially seen as an unmitigated success in 2002. Yet, we still have troops there today, and the current administration’s bumbling practically guarantees Afghanistan will return to chaos when we finally withdraw. Predator drones and other ordinance dropped from the air often create collateral damage and unintended victims, which probably does create more terrorists to kill or capture later (as some Lefties claim, and now Mr. Faisal Shahzad declares).
These observations only make more concrete a position I’ve espoused over the past 9 years or so – “it just needs to be about capturing and killing terrorists.” Recent mulling over the matter brings me to the more precise declaration “we need make it about precisely one bullet for each terrorist.”
Offensively, we need to dispatch small Special Forces units and trained assassins to specifically target individual terrorists. The CIA human intelligence function should be full bore on collecting foreign intelligence abroad. The NSA technical intelligence function should be set up to tap into every inch of the global communications network as necessary. Every Radical Islamist Jihadi in every foreign country should live in constant fear of black helicopters spilling out Green Berets, or Navy SEALs emerging from the nearest body of water, to kill or capture them.
Defensively, we need to aggressively pursue anti-ballistic missile (ABM) defense shields for ourselves and our allies, to protect us from rogue states with terrorist connections and nuclear ambitions (like Iran).
Large conventional force deployments abroad for years at a time are simply too divisive to our body politic, and – if we pursue my recommendations – just plain unnecessary.
My policy will still require a place to hold enemy Prisoners of War (POWs) until the enemy ceases hostilities. I defy anyone to demonstrate there is a more perfect solution than the facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Domestic Legal Prosecutions
Domestic legal policy needs to effectively deal with foreigners abusing our freedoms to operate inside our borders, as well as citizens who decide to become traitors.
First – the border with Mexico must be secured. In its current state, it can be too easily exploited by terrorists with evil intentions.
Second, the naturalization process must be able to weed out the Jihadis who are abusing the system to become citizens for infiltration purposes (e.g. Faisal Shahzad).
The common denominator connecting objectives one and two is the necessary death of Political Correctness (PC). This is, of course, a topic that could fill an entire treatise in itself. Let it be sufficient here to say PC proscriptions against “profiling” should be no impediment to doing the work and reaching the logical conclusions to keep illegal immigrants out, and to deny citizenship to Jihadis who seek it only to prosecute their war.
The linchpin is a transparently defined system for law enforcement (primarily FBI) to demonstrate reasonable suspicion to a judge, so that a warrant can be issued to slap the cuffs on a guy like Mr. Shahzad before he lights the SUV up in the middle of Times Square.
If the suspect is a foreign national, he or she should get a one way ticket to Guantanamo for a speedy military tribunal. Conviction should result in indefinite detention as an illegal enemy combatant POW under the Geneva Conventions.
If the suspect is a citizen, he or she should be charged with treason and tried in a civilian court. Conviction should result in execution per existing US law.
Comments from loyal US citizens welcome.
Addendum –May 10, 2010
I should fill in a hole in my policy recommendations. What should we do with American citizens who join the Jihad and go operational overseas? Take, for example, Anwar al-Awlaki. Easy – try and convict them of treason in absentia. They then become eligible to receive justice from a hellfire missile or one of our assassins – and with due process, too.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Contemporary Politics and Newton’s Three Laws of Motion (Part 5)
This blogging stuff is difficult work. It’s hard to come up with something worth reading by other people on a regular basis. Fortunately, this conservative blogger has a framework to fall back on when the creative oil pressure is a little low.
So, continuing along with the Newtonian physics theme - following is a laundry list of recent actions, their immediate Left Wing reactions, their immediate Right Wing reactions, selected cartoons from the Townhall Cartoons page, and my long term projection. I hope you find it an easy and enjoyable read in these perilous times.
==
Action: Anonymous SUV owner leaves his vehicle smoking and parked in the middle of Times Square.
Left Wing Reaction: Golly, I hope it’s a TEA Party guy. That would fit today's official Leftie narrative. Fingers Crossed!
Right Wing Reaction: Gee, D’ya think it might be a Jihadi? D’ya think?
Long Term Projection: Mr. Obama’s policies in the War on Terror will slowly but inexorably morph into Mr. Bush’s policies, but no one in the MSM will be allowed to notice.
==
Action: Arizona passes and signs S.B. 1070 to enforce existing Illegal Immigration law.
Left Wing Reaction: All Arizonans are racists, fascists, and TEA Party terrorists!
Right Wing Reaction: Maybe Arizonans are sick of counting the Illegal aliens and drug mules running through their backyards.
Long Term Projection: Border security will be addressed before amnesty. That was not necessarily the case before. Bravo to Arizona and Governor Jan Brewer!
==
Action: Off shore oil rig blows up for the first time in forty years or so.
Left Wing Reaction: Told you so! Those greedy big oil villains never cared about the fishes and the birds!
Right Wing Reaction: Shit Happens. Pray for the eleven killed. Timing is kind of interesting, though….
Long Term Projection: We will acquire more oil from ANWR and other on-shore sources because we need it, it’s safer for humans, and it’s less risky for the environment.
==
Action: Senate begins debate on financial regulatory reform.
Left Wing Reaction: Told you so! Those greedy Wall Street villains are finally gonna get theirs!
Right Wing Reaction: So what? The usual suspects will make out.
==
Action: President Obama launches phony deficit reduction commission.
Left Wing Reaction: Yippee! New taxes to pay for the ballooning social welfare state!
Right Wing Reaction: Shit! New taxes to pay for the ballooning social welfare state!
Long Term Projection: I fear we will become Greece. I hope we will have the will to fix the real problem: and cut federal spending.
==
Say, what’s your illustration going to be on May 20?
So, continuing along with the Newtonian physics theme - following is a laundry list of recent actions, their immediate Left Wing reactions, their immediate Right Wing reactions, selected cartoons from the Townhall Cartoons page, and my long term projection. I hope you find it an easy and enjoyable read in these perilous times.
==
Action: Anonymous SUV owner leaves his vehicle smoking and parked in the middle of Times Square.
Left Wing Reaction: Golly, I hope it’s a TEA Party guy. That would fit today's official Leftie narrative. Fingers Crossed!
Right Wing Reaction: Gee, D’ya think it might be a Jihadi? D’ya think?
Long Term Projection: Mr. Obama’s policies in the War on Terror will slowly but inexorably morph into Mr. Bush’s policies, but no one in the MSM will be allowed to notice.
==
Action: Arizona passes and signs S.B. 1070 to enforce existing Illegal Immigration law.
Left Wing Reaction: All Arizonans are racists, fascists, and TEA Party terrorists!
Right Wing Reaction: Maybe Arizonans are sick of counting the Illegal aliens and drug mules running through their backyards.
Long Term Projection: Border security will be addressed before amnesty. That was not necessarily the case before. Bravo to Arizona and Governor Jan Brewer!
==
Action: Off shore oil rig blows up for the first time in forty years or so.
Left Wing Reaction: Told you so! Those greedy big oil villains never cared about the fishes and the birds!
Right Wing Reaction: Shit Happens. Pray for the eleven killed. Timing is kind of interesting, though….
Long Term Projection: We will acquire more oil from ANWR and other on-shore sources because we need it, it’s safer for humans, and it’s less risky for the environment.
==
Action: Senate begins debate on financial regulatory reform.
Left Wing Reaction: Told you so! Those greedy Wall Street villains are finally gonna get theirs!
Right Wing Reaction: So what? The usual suspects will make out.
Long Term Projection: I doubt anyone will remember in five years.
==
Left Wing Reaction: Yippee! New taxes to pay for the ballooning social welfare state!
Right Wing Reaction: Shit! New taxes to pay for the ballooning social welfare state!
Long Term Projection: I fear we will become Greece. I hope we will have the will to fix the real problem: and cut federal spending.
==
Say, what’s your illustration going to be on May 20?
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