Thunder Tales

Reshaping the Battle

2012-02-01T12:16:00.001-06:00

Every course I teach, I start with a roughly twenty minute segment on "politics". I do that because I recall that I was half way through grad school for a Master's degree in political science when I realized that I didn't actually have a definition of what the word meant.

You can find a hundred definitions of politics in at least that many textbooks, but most folks simply assume that they know what the word means and that the person they are communicating with embraces the same definition. That's always a bad initial premise.

It turns out to be simple: Politics is process.

For my purposes, politics is the process by which societies do five essential things.

Choose their leader
Make their rules
Set their priorities
Allocate their limited resources
Resolve their disputes

If you look at it globally, you can see that all societies have a process for those functions. If we examine it from the viewpoint of Madisonian democracy we can relate number 1and 2 to the executive branch; number 2, 3, and 4 to the legislative branch; and number 5 to the judiciary. The rule making is shared between executive and legislative and refereed by our judiciary.

Ask the students how we in America choose our president and inevitably they will say we elect him. Which isn't constitutionally correct. Nothing in the US Constitution says a word about electing the executive. No mention of any citizens voting in an election. That is when we can begin to speak of process.

The process is playing out and we should appreciate how long, tedious and convoluted it is by now. The candidates have been fund-raising, speechifying, posturing, strategizing and imaging themselves for more than a year now. The media have been hyping the horse-race and breathlessly describing each blow of the battle as the potential knock-out.

Yesterday in Florida really finished it up, didn't it? That is what they wanted you to believe. But this morning we start to read the reality of what remains and suddenly the convolution of the process begins to sink in.

The Republican convention will have about 2300 delegates from the states. To gain the nomination a candidate will have to gain a majority. That's 1144 or so. And after these four critical state races and tens of millions of dollars and endless hours of debates and analysis, we've decided about 80 of those! The majority came from the winner-take-all bundle of Florida. In the context of giant steps toward an assured nomination, we've gotten halfway across the front porch but haven't yet knocked on the door.

Ron Paul is employing a caucus strategy. His loyal and largely less immature supporters are exactly what sways a caucus. Caucus states are easily controlled by small, organized and dedicated attendees. The catch is that less than a dozen states use a caucus and the states that do don't swing large numbers of delegates. Ron Paul conceivably will build a list of states which he has won, but really won't demonstrate a huge tally of votes at the convention. Will that give him a platform input for the party? My bet is maybe a perfunctory nod, but not much in the way of substantial planks.

Gingrich has shown himself to be increasingly erratic, overly sensitive to criticism, and apparently quite hypocritical in terms of saying one thing and doing another. He is accused of being a Washington insider and he is proving it in the public eye by his willingness to dissemble on the clear intent of his actions. A third resurgence in popularity in the coming states is not impossible, but is increasingly unlikely.

Romney has cash in hand, boots on the ground, and may be gradually sucking the air out of the campaign. He appears to be slowly picking up the less adamant of the "anybody but Mitt" voters. The media are gradually resurrecting the Mormon issue. It is irrelevant, but like race in American politics, non-mainstream religion can be a factor. Maybe we have outgrown it. Will Romney lose votes with his scorched earth mud-slinging super-PAC? That's the tender spot for many, including me.

Santorum now is in a position to compete. He has shown a bit of aggressiveness, but not enough to damage his demeanor as a serious and presidential personality. He hasn't stumbled and it is a real scramble to dig up a smear that sticks to him. The real question for Rick is whether he can get adequate organization and sufficient funding to spread his message across the heavy first two weeks of March. Nothing really happens for the rest of February, but Super Tuesday in early March will probably be the break point.

Open primaries, closed primaries, caucus states, proportional delegates and bloc voting, all demonstrate that politics is process. And the process we use to choose our leader is a very complex one.

Easy Day at TT

2012-01-31T08:15:00.000-06:00

It's easy at ThunderTales when all I have to do is respond to a comment. Flying Barrister asks about F-35:

The F-35 program was in the news again last week, and is coming under fire. I expect it will become discussed with greater frequency as plans to reduce military forces and spending continue to unfold.

I don't recall seeing you comment on that plane. What are the forces giving up in terms of useful payload by making them all jumpers? Would it make since to simplify it and make some of them non-VTOL? The Brits and/or others have expressed concern that they are single engine aircraft and lack the twin safety feature they like for over water patrols.

Air superiority is an essential component in US strategy. We and others are banking on the F35 with no updated F15's, 16's, or 18's underway to fill any gap created by delays and potential cancellations in the F-35 program. Is it smart to bank exclusively on expensive stealth craft?

Let's start by noting that F-35 is concurrent development of 3 versions. Only the B model is a VSTOL, i.e. "jumper". The A and C model are conventional take-off and landing. The difference is that the C has a larger wing and therefore more endurance and payload.

The essential fact is that most of the planned production is already A and C model with the B-version, aimed at USMC support being a very small number. If you were to handicap the programs to bet on which will survive, the odds are longest against the very complex B model remaining in the mix.

Regarding single engine vs two engine, I'm one of the folks that have tried combat both ways. I never had an engine failure in 23 years of fast jet flying, so reliability doesn't rank very high in my worry list for normal ops. In combat flying, where engine loss is the result of enemy action, I never saw an instance in which a two-engine jet took a hit that cost an engine and survived on the remaining engine. The usual scenario is that destruction of one engine would lead to destruction of the second as various components came apart.

Updates to the teen-jets have been continual since adoption. A Block 50 Viper C-model may be a single-engine F-16, but it is considerably different than an A-model or even a Block 25 C-model. Upgrading those systems further would be a stop-gap and waste of funds in the long term, particularly after the research and development investment already sunk costs in F-22 and F-35.

The Raptor is the undeniable air superiority asset and should fill the high/low mix role which the Eagle did so well. The -35 is the Viper replacement with vastly upgraded systems and still retains a respectable self-defense capability against enemy air. Remember at all times that we operate as integrated weapons systems, not as single aircraft. Total situational awareness is provided by the integrated package.

Stealth is a major capability. Reduction of signature to allow first detection of enemy assets is a force multiplier. It is not an exclusive, but it is a necessity.

Too Much Information

2012-01-30T08:51:00.002-06:00

With the economy in questionable condition, it is always good to see a report of a successful company. Sales figures that are better than expected are good news, aren't they?

Well, yes and no. Here's what I mean:

Fifty Gees on Thongs And Push-ups?

Seriously?

I'm getting images of the residence quarters of the White House that are a bit disturbing. I don't have a problem with the expenditure. She's got her money and "da Man" has his book royalties so they can be a bit extravagant. But what all could one get for that kind of cash?

Is some assembly required? Are batteries included? Is this "pret a porter" or bespoke?

And why didn't she "buy American"? Doesn't Victoria's Secret do high end...no pun intended.

UPDATE:

Well, the question is when should you take your lumps and hope no one notices or is it better to "Harumph" loudly and object strenuously? The alleged shopping spree described above may or may not have happened, but did the story improve politically or is the additional spin boring deeper?

Dainties Boutique Clientele Confidential, But Wardrobe Worth Comment

Actually, I like the First Lady to be dressed elegantly. That image is so much better in my imagination than the exotic activities conjured up by the first article.

We've Got Our Own Race Card to Play

2012-01-29T12:32:00.001-06:00

Hoist On Someone's Petard

2012-01-29T11:20:00.000-06:00

There was a remarkable outpouring of anti-Newt rhetoric over the last couple of days. The scare initiated by his victory over the presumptive next-in-line candidate of the establishment got a lot of voices to speak up. We knew Ann Coulter was a Romneyite. I was a bit surprised that R. Emmett Tyrrell came out with something this harsh:

Newt Is GOP's Bill Clinton

Seriously? With friends like Tyrrell in the GOP stalwart media, why would we ever worry about Rachel Maddow?

Then we had Elliot Abrams, a former Reagan staffer take serious issue with the Gingrich--Reagan nexus. Sure, it is common for a conservative aspirant to cloak himself in the mantle of the great one, but it is rare to have that linkage so severely challenged.

Newt Exaggerates. Reagan Never Liked Him.

Apparently the coordinated attacks were supposed to be so overwhelming that nobody expected fact checking. Certainly there wouldn't be much challenge from the mainstream media. Does Wolf Blitzer even know how to Google?

That's why this "not so fast" dismantling in the American Spectator should be read carefully:

Abrams Apparently Panders For Romney Appointment Later

This coming Tuesday is going to be interesting. I suspect that Romney will win, but the margin won't be as large as he would like. The interesting, if insignificant outcome will be whether Santorum stays ahead of Ron Paul.

What counts now is contributions. Who can keep the campaign going at the accelerating pace required to travel and make an impact for Super Tuesday. That takes money. Romney has got it. Gingrich is capable of getting it. Santorum needs an infusion to remain viable. And the Ron Paul campaign runs on Ramen noodles and loyalists Tweets.

Resurrect the 11th Commandment

2012-01-28T12:02:00.000-06:00

Politics ain't bean-bag. It can be brutal, bloody, vicious and damaging. But that should be between the competing parties with their ideological differences. Increasingly the demands of a society which has abandoned the "sweet science" of pugilism for unlimited cage fighting require that policy discussion be abandoned in favor of total destruction of your opponent. You don't win the election by clearly describing superior policy choices. You win by shattering your opponents marriage, destroying his finances, demeaning his business and educational experience, and ruining his reputation. Truth becomes irrelevant and innuendo will be long remembered.

Four months ago it was a virtual certainty that Obama would be a one-term president. There was no conceivable way for a once-fooled electorate to embrace someone with such a parade of policy failures and blatant power grabs. Now, we would have to doubt that there will be a Republican candidate capable of standing before a crowd of voters in a general election campaign without being tarred and feathered.

Here is a remarkable commentary from an unlikely source. Or maybe not so unlikely at all, since she is one who has very clearly experienced the blood-lust of the new America:

Cannibals In the Tribe Eat the Young, the Old, and the Future

The most revered and respected Republican of the last fifty years had one very clear concept that helped a moribund GOP leap into political power and begin a resurgence to relevance. Ronaldus Magnus gave us the Eleventh Commandment; thou shalt not speak ill of another Republican.

It would be very good advice for the next year at least.

Saturday Morning Rocker

2012-01-28T09:25:00.001-06:00

Maybe the Rest of the Story?

2012-01-27T09:45:00.001-06:00

Unless you've been sleeping the last two days, you are probably aware of the "meeting" on the tarmac between Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer and the President as he made a campaign stop in what he hopes to be a pivotal state in his re-election.

The trigger of the conversation apparently was the portrayal of a meeting between the governor and the Messiah in her book which didn't go well, unless of course you are into monarch and subject sort of protocols. One dare not challenge the Bamster.

So, the story goes, he hit the pavement and got immediately in Gov. Brewer's face as she attempted to fulfill a politically required courtesy of welcoming the President to her state. She didn't take it for very long and the photo of the finger in the face has become iconic.

Here is a summary which may offer details of the encounter, the most important of which is the mysterious letter which she handed the President before he turned and departed in a presidential snit:

Working Together to Build a Better America

The facade of courtesy is what marks diplomacy, breeding, and civilization. The pomposity which takes affront at any challenge to one's position speaks volumes regarding maturity and self-image.

Does that news item tell the rest of the story? We can't really know. But it seems to fill a few more blanks into the scenario.

Leading the World

2012-01-27T08:53:00.001-06:00

Leadership! That's what it is about. Seizing the moment. Grabbing the opportunity to abandon fossil fuels; you know that stuff that you put in your car and it reliably gets you to work every day. It's about wind and solar. We don't need no stinking dead dinosaurs! We've got vast landscapes to deface with huge bloody windmills that work some of the time, cost horrendous amounts to erect, use components often from off-shore and consume vast amounts of fossil fuel energy to build, transport, build and maintain. We've got almost half of every day filled with sunshine to fire up those solar cell arrays that cover the land that could otherwise be used for crops or livestock or homes or schools, unless of course it is cloudy.

But we can look beyond all that. We can stimulate the future. We can dedicate vast sums of money and send Joey "Da Mouth" Biden, aka Veep of da Youse, to bask in the reflected glory of the lucky entrepreneur who got a government check to fund his retirement home in the Bahamas without having to go through those intervening years of building a productive company. A campaign slogan might be "Funding Failures For the Future"! It's got a nice alliterative quality to it.

Battery Builder Goes Bust Being Out-Built by Beijing

Don't feel badly about this. It's less than a quarter of what Solyndra wasted. It's about leadership and the future and the freedom from dependency on middle-eastern oil. It's almost like we had a bordering neighbor with a lot of oil to send us if we only built a pipeline. Maybe we could pump the oil from Canada to American refineries that we could build with a pipeline supported by electric car batteries which weren't doing very well in cars. We'll simply recharge them from electricity produced by the windmills occasionally.

That's leadership!

"No Fair, He's Cheating!"

2012-01-25T11:51:00.000-06:00

Remember when you were growing up and the most effective argument you could raise on the playground was that something wasn't "fair"? Remember when Tommy got that really neat new bicycle for his birthday and you thought back that the previous month you got a pair of pajamas and a six-pack of tube-socks? You cried and went running to your mommy and claimed it wasn't fair that Tommy got that bicycle.

Maybe your mommy said, "we love you and that's all we can afford." Or maybe she pointed out that Tommy's daddy had a very good job and worked very hard and Tommy didn't have two sisters and a brother to share with, so his daddy could buy him that special bicycle.

What didn't happen was that your mother went down the street to Tommy's house and told his parents that fairness would rule and Tommy would give his bicycle to you for three days a week so that it could be fair. At least I hope that didn't happen.

This week we've been learning about America's new fixation on fairness. It appears that there is a new emphasis on fairness and that stress is going to increase considerably in the coming months.

If someone is successful, it won't be fair to the rest of us. I could easily point at the President and say he is the focus of the fairness trend and it would be difficult to deny that he depends upon it more than most. But we could easily look at the GOP presidential contenders and see the fairness issue. And certainly the media is positively festooned with fairness.

Taxes are a big issue apparently. We need more fairness in our tax structure. It simply isn't fair that, for example, Mitt Romney only paid a trifle over $3 million dollars last year in income tax. That isn't fair somehow because according to our tax laws, which he didn't write, his capital gains rate was just under 15% while Warren Buffett's secretary (who I'm sure is compensated nicely by uber-billionaire Buffett) pays income tax on her salary at about a 28-34% rate. She didn't write the law either, but I haven't heard her screaming about the fairness. She is merely an example of the unfairness.

When someone plays a game and wins, they have earned the glory. There were rules written for the game beforehand. If the victory comes and the winner played by the rules, that was fair. If the rules were violated then that was unfair. But simply because there was a winner and a loser does not imply unfairness.

The fickle finger of fairness points at those with the highest income. The President did it last night and will do it increasingly in the coming months because it plays well with the people who don't really think much about these things. Those with high income need to contribute a "fair share" to the support of this nation's government.

Does no one notice that roughly 50% of the people in the nation currently pay nothing into the federal treasury? Is nothing a "fair share" of the burden of government for them? Does fairness have anything to do with anything here?

Can we notice something largely over-looked in the fairness of Mr. Romney's 15% capital gains tax? What created the capital gains? It was investment of money which he had already earned. Hence it was income which had already been taxed as income at the "unfair" rate of Mr. Buffett's secretary. Since it was a munificent income, we can assume he paid at the top income tax rate already. Now he piles another 15% on top of the first 35% or so which he has paid. Is it "fair" yet?

Maybe we can simply tolerate unfairness in compelling the successful to contribute an unfair "fair share". Does that effect us? Surprisingly, it does. You make a nice wage. Maybe you earned a bonus last year. You paid all of the taxes that the law requires. Now the money is yours, right? That's fair!

Better not put it in savings, or stocks, or bonds, or funds. Because then you will get interest or dividends and they will tax it again...just to be fair you see.

And, don't you dare die and try to leave it to your kids because they will come for half of it again. Because that is fair to give most of what you've earned to those who contribute nothing and are demanding more fairness from you.

When To Stay Home

2012-01-23T12:50:00.000-06:00

Note to Napolitano

2012-01-23T11:22:00.000-06:00

Here's a short addendum to the training manual for your TSA gate goons:

They shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.

It comes from the United States Constitution, Art I, Sec 6. Should you be unfamiliar with the document, Madame Secretary, let me simply point out that Article I deals with the legislature, and the pronoun at the start of the sentence quoted, describes Senators and Representatives, aka Congress-critters.

Sen. Rand Paul Detained by TSA, Misses Flight

If you are passing through "Grope-n-Grab", required to sit in a chair, miss your flight, then by any logical definition of the term you are being detained. For a TSA spokesperson to say that wasn't a detention is disingenuous at best.

The Constitution was thinking of political activists stopping an elected official from discharging their duties for purposes of obstructing governmental action. I don't think they ever thought that the executive branch might interfere with the legislative branch in such an egregious manner.

I'm also reluctant to jump to the conclusion that there is a linkage to the fact that the junior senator is the son of an opposition party Presidential candidate.

No, my default conclusion is that this is just one more example of total incompetence by a bureaucracy staffed with affirmative action goons delighted with their authority to intimidate, embarrass, harass and interfere with the rest of us. From the top down the TSA is a misguided solution to a problem that hasn't adequately been defined yet.

Cracks in the Ivory Tower

2012-01-22T12:40:00.000-06:00

Rackets don't always deal with illicit substances, gambling, loan-sharking or sex. Some are visible, accepted, legal and equally outrageous. Textbooks are a racket. College textbooks are Mafia-grade racketeering.

A typical college textbook is over a hundred dollars. Some are well over that number. The American government book we use in my community college lists for $185. The Texas state government book is a bargain, listed at $115.

Take a look at most of the books in the average student backpack and you will notice that they are 10th, 12th, or 15th edition. That's not a coincidence or an accident. It's an intentional plot. If you don't update your books, then students simply sell them to the next class and your market shrinks. Simply edit in a new paragraph from the most recent year or the last election and call it a new edition. Now the current student has got a $150 paperweight that can't be resold.

The argument is that the cost is so high because of the instructional supplementals that faculty get. There will be a handbook of lesson plans, there might be a CD of PowerPoint presentations usually cobbled together by a graduate student with no editing skills, and there inevitably will be a test question bank also built by a teaching assistant with no training in creation of evaluation tools.

Bottom line is that the student takes a big hit in the wallet and the shoulders that must bear the heavy backpack.

Last semester I stumbled upon a start-up company that was offering e-books for all levels of education from K-12 through university and grad school. The free app came in PC and Mac flavors as well as Android and iOS. Most major textbook publishers were on board with their catalogs and instructors who were willing to evaluate the system got a coupon for $200 worth of free textbooks. Cost of books was roughly half of what a dead-tree textbook sold for.

Kno.com Offers a New Paradigm for Textbooks

The books are accessible through all of our devices. They are full color and fully illustrated. They are searchable, indexed, and bookmarkable. You can highlight and clip relevant info to fit your study style. Organize by your classes and semesters then simply carry your iPad around and throw the bulky backpack in the trunk.

The real event took place last week. Apple-fanatics are always rumoring the new iPhone or latest iteration of the iPad or release of an operating system update. That didn't happen, but what did happen was almost as earthshaking. Apple attacked textbooks like a Marine amphibious landing storming the beach with a full blown air assault softening the marketplace in advance.

First they announced a new addition to iBooks, the iTunes connected e-book reader which will specialize in textbooks. If you've got the current operating system on you iPad, Pod, Phone, you'll simply find an iTextbooks section when you plug into iTunes. Current library is limited, but with the leverage of Apple you can be certain that the choices will expand rapidly. It only took about a month after iNewstand showed up in iOS 5 before you could get literally hundreds of magazines and newspapers.

Pricing, if it sticks to the current offering levels is going to be bargain basement. Most of the high school texts available are in the $15 range and some large-format, heavily-illustrated offerings like premium cookbooks still come in under $50.

Joined at the hip with iTextbooks is what potentially is a free global university. It's called iTunes U, and offers schools and faculty the chance to offer multi-media online courses through the iPad. I looked at it yesterday and found a list of categories of courses. Science, math, social studies, literature, humanities, etc. are all available. Political science is under the social studies area and there were already more than a hundred courses ranging from American government to international relations, law of armed conflict, and more. Schools offering the courses span the gamut from community colleges to state universities to powerhouses like Harvard and Oxford.

The key to free enterprise entrepreneurship is finding a need and meeting it with innovation. Steve Jobs was legendary in his ability to do that with out-of-the-box thinking. This textbook and learning system initiative is definitely on the same track.

Saturday Morning Rocker

2012-01-21T10:14:00.001-06:00

Two of the greatest:

Elephants! There are Elephants!

2012-01-20T11:14:00.003-06:00

The number of elephants in the room is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. Be careful where you step there. Haven't had a chance to keep up with the mucking out of the place lately.

I'm talking about how we select our presidential nominees, obviously. The elephants weren't simply milling around yesterday. They were trumpeting loudly and it was almost impossible to concentrate on ignoring them any longer.

The primary process we have adopted is a disaster. It is totally dysfunctional and largely unrepresentative. It disenfranchises the majority of the nation and leaves a minuscule and insignificant portion of the states making the choice of who carries the party banner. It is subject to manipulation and there is no way it can offer a two party system the best possible candidates to lead a nation forward in the 21st century.

We are tradition-bound to let Iowa have a "first-in-the-nation" caucus. A caucus is a quaint and archaic community meeting in which largely emotional and often directly employed representative of candidates attempt to sway their neighbors into a public declaration of support. Participation, even in a high-focus caucus such as Iowa, is disproportionately small. But impact on the reputation, momentum and subsequent primaries is disproportionately large. Be careful of those tusks there, he's just trying to nuzzle you.

Move then to New Hampshire. The entire state could be dropped into a dozen metro areas in the nation and still have room to put Rhode Island in with it. The population is less than over a hundred cities in America. It is as un-diverse as anyplace in the country except for possibly a Montgomery Alabama Klan meeting. These people egotistically demand a face-to-face meeting with all of the candidates to judge them. When you've got such a small footprint and such a large impact, a focused effort and a lot of money can make you King.

By the time you get to South Carolina, just over 4 million people out of a nation of 320 million have culled the field. This year we had eight contenders at the start. Here we are three weeks into actual citizens expressing a desire for a nominee and four of them are gone: Cain, Bachmann, Huntsman and Perry.

South Carolina is a bit larger. Their population equals the other two states, but you've still only got a total of less than 3% of the nation involved. Finally we find some non-whites, non-Christian, and actually metropolitan area dwellers involved. But, the identification is still the "buckle on the Bible Belt" so you haven't quite achieved representative parity.

Before midnight on Saturday we'll see a two-person field and in short order there is a good chance that Florida will have slammed the door on the process and the remaining 46 states will be conducting largely irrelevant ceremonial rites with regard to presidential nominees. The associated fall-out of that irrelevance is that the down-ballot nominees will be chosen by a much smaller party elite and the cycle of party in-breeding will continue to spiral downward. Watch out for that trunk. She thinks you might have an apple in your pocket or maybe some peanuts. Don't get between her and her calf.

Hey, don't go over in that corner. That big fellow is sort of a rogue. He's the hardest one to ignore. He really makes a mess and is terribly aggressive. He likes to pick up the dung left by the others and throw it at you. Yeah, he's really outrageous.

That's the one we call Main Stream Media. That's ABC News digging up the ex-wife and interviewing her. How tough is that? Do you know anyone's ex-wife? We all know ex-wives. Do you know an ex-wife who says nice things about her former mate? Do you know any, who if given the opportunity years later to derail their ex-spouse on the public stage, wouldn't do it? How about if there were some money thrown in for the interview? And what if we sweeten the deal by making out the new, younger, better-looking wife as some sort of amoral, ambitious tart?

Right behind MSM, the big rogue is his brother. We call him King. He's the CNN toad who starts a presidential debate with some sleaze then has a stunned look when he walks into a professionally delivered haymaker, loses the audience and isn't smart enough to change the subject.

Yeah, watch out for the elephants in the room. It's getting to be a bloody zoo in here.

The Who Department?

2012-01-18T12:04:00.002-06:00

How does Hillary get involved in this decision?

State Department Governs Environmental Impact of Parallel Pipeline?

Can no one rein in the circus of convolutions going on in the capitol?

Harsh! But Right!

2012-01-17T15:33:00.000-06:00

Bill Kristol expresses the unthinkable. He says something that makes sense and needs to be considered here:

Don't Let the Door Hit You on the Way Out

Watching the Fox debate last night I was once again left dumbfounded by the statements of Ron Paul. The man seems to live in a totally different world; one populated by rational North Korean leadership and moral mullahs of the Middle East. We would isolate ourselves behind the vast oceans, beat our swords into plowshares, sell the plowshares to Mexican pot-growers and eliminate all government services because they simply aren't covered in the enumerated powers of the Constitution.

The question that Kristol asks is whether a party harboring a loon is more appealing to the electorate than one which could not bear to risk the loss of people who would vote for such a loon to become president. Clearly Kristol's answer is that the GOP simply looks foolish by their continued tolerance for Paul. Would he run as a third-party candidate? Would he be able to muster the money of a Ross Perot? Would his foreign policy which is arguably to the left of Obama's actually draw conservative moderates away from a rational Republican nominee?

Kristol's answer is that we would be better off without this continued charade of Ron Paul viability for the party. I think maybe he is right.

Iowahawk Has a Challenger

2012-01-17T08:16:00.003-06:00

If you don't bother with my Regular Stops list, that's probably normal. Blogs come and go based on my whims and whether or not they stay active and relevant. I don't waste space when a blog goes dormant. And hopefully I don't waste your time either.

Last week I added a new listing. "Stroud is All Over The Place" which is reminiscent of the once-great "Fred on Everything" but with a bit less political slant. Based in Europe, but with a heavy background of years living in Asia, and a full career in the USAF you are liable to find comments on wines (at the affordable end of the spectrum), food (at the enjoyable end of the menu), cooking (at the tasty portion of the table), and the occasional tidbit of exceptional writing. This one isn't Brigid-style tear-evoking picturesque prose poetry, but strictly tongue in cheek Iowahawk stuff.

It's worth two minutes to read. Warning, swallow your coffee before starting or place apron over keyboard:

Fetid Wind in Scotland

This is going to only get better.

Does Reality Have Relevance?

2012-01-16T14:32:00.000-06:00

Does it make a difference any more what the facts are? Can we simply say whatever we feel like and regardless of the truth, if it hits an emotional hot button do we fall swooning at the feet of the Bamster? Catch this clinker:

Valerie Jarrett Gives Sermon: Jesus is Her Boss and Satan is the GOP

Should we give her a pass for failure to notice that two out of the three years of her administration were blessed with a heavy Democrat majority in both chambers of the legislature? OK, let's ignore that for a moment.

How about this then:

"Teachers, and firefighters, and policemen, whose jobs are now in jeopardy because Congress--well let me be specific--because the Republicans in Congress," Jarrett told the crowd. According to the CBS affiliate in Atlanta, at this point, "Before she could finish her sentence, people in the congregation were laughing, and applauding."

Teachers, firefighters and policemen work for which department of the federal government? Oh, they don't work for the feds? So the Congress doesn't have a bloody thing to do with their jobs?

That's right, kiddies! Teachers get paid by your local school district funded by your local ad valorem property taxes. In most states there is a significant chunk paid by the state through their tax structure, mostly sales taxes and license fees. The federal government tosses in an average of 8-10% of total school funding and that is mostly through payment for school lunches!

Firefighters and police work for cities. They are metropolitan government employees. They aren't hired, fired or funded by the feds.

Will no one stand up and challenge this sort of drivel?

Scraping Bottom

2012-01-16T10:17:00.001-06:00

I'll be the first to admit that Fighter Pilots are not a community of saints. We wouldn't even qualify as reasonably dissipated alcoholic monks. We can get raunchy and maybe even under the right conditions set records for profanity. But there is a time and a place for such things.

Prime time television isn't that place. At least it shouldn't be.

But we seem to demand it in our entertainment. If we can't descend into middle school scatological commentary about bodily functions, wink-wink, nudge-nudge, then we simply aren't entertained.

Golden Globes Cover Rotting Fruit

The total loss of American sophistication, culture and dignity seem to be proceeding at an accelerating pace.

Bad Zoot, Bad

2012-01-15T11:09:00.001-06:00

Are You Ready For Some Football?

2012-01-15T11:00:00.003-06:00

Can you still have any adrenaline left after yesterday's playoff games?

The final minutes of the Saints-49ers was unbelievable. If we are to believe that there was a divine interest in the game that might merit intervention the shock was that it didn't link to Tim Tebow. That game was an entirely different story.

Tebow did his best but the rest of the Denver Broncos apparently took the weekend off. Tom Brady returned from his four year hiatus into mediocrity to flash the precision and skill which had begun to look as though it had burned out. If the Pats bring that next week, we're going to have a memorable Super Bowl.

Barring an upset this afternoon, I'm thinking Pack v Pats on the big day and I couldn't begin to make a prediction on who might take the hardware home from Indianapolis.

This Pretty Well Sums It Up

2012-01-14T09:11:00.003-06:00

For Hillary and Leon and the Bamster and all of the rest of the bleeding heart main-stream media:

Unless You Walk In Their Shoes STFU!

Dead is dead. You don't get more dead by someone acting upon your body. Stupid is stupid, but that's all it is.

Saturday Morning Rocker

2012-01-14T09:05:00.002-06:00

Still my favorite. Hard pressed to find a better rocker, writer and creative artist.

Is the Warrior Ethic Still Viable

2012-01-13T14:52:00.001-06:00

The author of this piece is Dr. John Lehman, former Secretary of the Navy. He writes about what is occurring in the Naval Aviation community and he does it with great insight.

Recently there have been numerous items circulating with similar themes. It isn't unique to the Navy. The Air Force has a parallel if not identical issue.

At first I simply wrote it off as just another circulation of military griping. We did it in the immediate post-Vietnam era as the adjustment to peacetime operations required a bit of throttling back. We saw it during the mid-'80s with the now famous "Dear Boss" letter. It came around again ten years ago with an update of the "Dear Boss" to current issues, but still the same problem. Now it is top-level Boss writing about the problem in the hope that maybe a cultural epiphany could still save the spirit.

Where Warriors and Why Military Politicos?

Is this just griping?

I don't think so. In the last two months I got to visit a couple of places. In one I saw young students, eager and aggressive, competitive and professional seeking to continue with the heritage of military aviation. They were not only US, but NATO allies. Students and instructors alike were a slice of free-world military aviation. They had the spirit. The mentioned old jets, but they had what they needed and they knew how to get the most out of it.

Then I saw a USAF operational training base. The facilities were amazing compared to the period when I thought we had it pretty good. But within 36 hours I could tell the jets were tired, the crews were over-tasked, the leadership was frustrated and at all levels they looked to a dismal future. They saw cut-backs in modernization and protracted high op-tempo. They saw pending assignments to drone ops. They saw a promotion system that rewarded yes-men and punished warriors. They saw arbitrary rulings and stifling of e'sprit without any justification. They were a grim force, simply hanging on.

Fighter pilots are different. Some say better, some say worse. Some say arrogant others call it confident. Some say immature, others say aggressive. All say that they prevail even when it seems impossible. Will they? It seems impossible again.

Figures Lie/Liars Figure

2012-01-13T14:20:00.000-06:00

I often took the stat on those poor Americans languishing without healthcare coverage and used it in class to demonstrate the need to question everything. That concept is core to understanding politics in America. Just because someone gives you a number and it seems to indicate an outrage which must be corrected does not necessarily mean that is the fact.

The folks without healthcare coverage were variously estimated at between 30 and 40 million Americans. There are a number of ways to parse that statistic to bring it down to a figure which represents the truly indigent, but let's just take the median, 35 million. Do you realize that then means 280 million Americans are covered by various healthcare plans?

Or the terrible statistic that Texas ranks in the lowest five states in per-capita funding for public education (K-12). Actually, that number applies to state subsidy of K-12 and the state really ranks near the top 10 for total tax support per-capita since the state only pays about 38% of school budgets, the feds about 9% and the majority comes from local district property tax. But the real question is, do dollars spent equate with quality of education provided? And maybe equally important, does a dollar spent in Texas buy as much as a dollar spent in Chicago or New York or Washington DC? Whether the statistic is true or not, the relevance to the issue is negligible.

Numbers don't lie, but sometimes numbers don't respond to the question which was asked.

That is why this item is so interesting:

Racism, Redlining, and Redistribution

Sometimes apparently, the numbers tell a story that really doesn't have much of a plot.

Keep that in mind next time a statistic gets you all outraged and ready to take to the streets and storm the Bastille.

Dark Day in Dublin

2012-01-12T09:26:00.000-06:00

When you move to Texas, shortly after you learn about the Alamo, Goliad and San Jacinto you progress to the Texas Rangers, Bonnie and Clyde, Ma & Pa Ferguson and by the second week you get to the intense study of Dr. Pepper.

If you go into a bar or restaurant and they don't have Dr. Pepper, simply turn around and walk back out. You have stumbled into a joint that also dishes out that salsa from "New Yawk City!"

Dr. Pepper was invented in Texas. Like all good things it eventually came to the attention of the subordinate states and inevitably a multi-mega-conglomerate bought up the name, the recipe and the distribution rights. That meant profit over quality and franchise limitations to insure that quality might not interfere should some upstart challenge the system.

That upstart is the place where Dr. Pepper started. It is the bottler in Dublin TX, a typical small town west of Ft. Worth along US 377. They held a franchise and it specified that they could distribute in a six county area. They were purists and they continued to make Dr. P the old-fashioned way with pure cane sugar rather than corn syrup. Not surprisingly you can taste the difference.

Fans of Dublin Dr. Pepper sought the real thing. The Dublin bottler obliged and filled orders from outside their authorized county limits. The corporate gods looked down from on high and declared that goodness was not part of the contract and must stop!

As with the Borg, resistance was futile. This morning we have this sad announcement:

Dublin Dr. Pepper Passes Away

Flags will be at half-staff throughout the state. Store shelves will be cleaned out. Legacy bottles will be bequeathed to grand-children who may open them for special occasions in years to come.

It's a sad day in Texas.

It Isn't Fair

2012-01-11T14:32:00.001-06:00

Before you follow the link, let me acknowledge that the criticism isn't fair. Much of it is media hype. Much of it is bad timing. Some of it is erroneous reporting. But let's also note that a lot of it is simply an aloof disregard for the impression an act will create:

Five "Let Them Eat Cake" Moments

A President has incredible responsibility. He deserves time off with his family. He must have security and communications support. Any movement of the chief executive is going to incur costs.

But there are also impressions which will be created. When the economy is booming, the world is stable, America is riding the crest of a wave, then it is hardly noticeable when the President spends a week at his ranch chopping wood, riding his horse or having dinner with some friends and supporters.

When the economy is in shambles, when people are out of work, when threats to world peace and the existence of allies are immediate, then a bit of judgment might be appropriate.

Should a First Family be dressing up in fantasy costumes with a hundred Hollywood high rollers as the jobless rate plumbs new depths?

Should the First Lady be commandeering entire floors of five star luxury hotels on the Spanish coast simply because she can?

Is it reasonable for a chief executive of a democratic republic to take a Boeing 747 to Chicago or New York for a dinner date?

Was it really too tough for Michelle and the girls to wait four hours before departing for Martha's Vineyard?

It isn't fair to pick on them, but it is fair to look for a bit of awareness of what their behavior looks like to the rest of the nation. This sort of behavior did not fare well for Marie Antoinette nor the Romanovs.

Not For Fetching Groceries

2012-01-10T14:17:00.001-06:00

I'm not sure what to put on the CD player. I got rid of all my CDs. Doesn't it have a iPod or MP3 harness? I think I'll shop elsewhere.

Biertijd.com // Media » Bugatti Veyron Super Sport Amazing 431km/h

Do remember to pop this up to full-screen view.

Fascinating History

2012-01-10T11:40:00.000-06:00

Have you wondered why we don't see as many politicians running on a gun-control platform? Maybe the polling has revealed that there is a trend.

Animated Chart of Concealed Carry 1986-2011

If that doesn't tell you what Americans from sea to shining sea think about their Second Amendment you aren't paying attention.

Decisive Outcome

2012-01-10T09:31:00.000-06:00

The "Who Cares Bowl" was played last night to determine the national championship of college football and the answer was clear and decisive. Of the two teams playing, it was "none of the above."

The team that came in ranked #1 in the nation displayed no ability to run the ball, no ability to pass the ball and little or no defense. They had no stars, no dynamics and little more than a high school level competence with regard to avoiding simple penalties.

Their opponent, showed that despite mediocre defense they still could not get the ball inside field goal range for most of the game and even then they could not always execute that basic play from normal range with consistency. Their defense offered little in the way of sacks or picks.

It was a game without stars. There was no premier quarterback. I didn't see an exciting running back or an amazing receiver. No linebackers distinguished themselves, no safeties made incredible plays and the kicking game was ho-hum.

The previous game was equally ho-hum when these teams met except the other team came out on top when time mercifully expired. Now we've got a 1-1 record at the end of the season. So who is the real national champion?Neither of these two sad organizations is a definitive champion. The BCS has clearly failed to perform its primary function.Is there a National Champion for the 2011 season? There might be, but it sure isn't either of these. Would a match-up with Oklahoma State or Stanford or Wisconsin or even Baylor have been more entertaining. I can't possibly doubt it. This was of the level of laying on your back and looking at the ceiling to watch flies fornicate.

Yawn

2012-01-09T10:28:00.002-06:00

"...and so the world ends, not with a bang but a whimper."

Actually that was written about the 2011 NCAA college football season. It all wraps up tonight with the long awaited "Vinyl Siding, Aluminum Stormdoor, Fried Chicken and Double-Wides of America Who Cares Bowl" matching up LSU and Alabama in a rematch of a boredom inducing 9-6 soccer goal contest.

The noise you hear in the background is the sarcastic laughter emanating from the SEC/BCS luxury suite where the tall dogs are chuckling over how they've denied America any semblance of a national championship competition.

They will point at the totally objective, non-prejudicial, computer generated, no humans involved point totals that somehow evaluate such factors as game attendance, pop-corn sold, parking tickets validated, strength of schedule, temperature at kick-off and successful plea-bargains by defensive secondaries to calculate who is one and two in the nation.

Is it remotely possible that the only place in the nation with meaningful football is the SEC? Is it believable that we all wait with bated breath to see if Alabama can beat LSU if given a second try? Is it feasible that America eagerly seeks touchdown droughts for entertainment? Does anybody care if Honey Badger had his hair done since Heisman day?

Can I really believe that the Big 12 doesn't have someone worthy of playing the vaunted LSU? It seemed that Oklahoma State looked pretty good all year and they didn't play a push-over schedule. Stanford showed some talent. Wouldn't there have been more interest in an LSU match up against Wisconsin or Oregon? Am I to believe that inquiring minds don't want to know about regional comparison when it comes to national championship?

We need one more rule in that BCS balderdash. NO rematches of already played games and NO pairings from the same conference in a national championship. NONE! Ever!

"Frankly, Scarlett, I don't give a damn!"

Saturday Morning Rocker

2012-01-07T08:58:00.002-06:00

This has the potential to leave a mark:

The Next Book

2012-01-06T14:57:00.002-06:00

I'm regularly asked what I've got in the works for another book. I've given bit of a fling at fiction and find I can't pile the fantastic on fast enough to make it believable. I used to think I was pretty good at spinning whole cloth out of nuance and shadowy misperceptions until a few months ago my wife told me I'd never gotten away with a thing. Sort of bursts my J. K. Rowling/Stephen King dreams there.

So I guess I'm stuck with memoirs and I'm not sure I've dredged the bottom of the bowl of aeronautical escapades yet. I went rummaging around the old memorabilia from pilot training days and dredged up this from flight school:

Yep, old Flasheart knew how to inspire a class.

Talking Ain't Fighting

2012-01-06T12:18:00.003-06:00

It is a pretty basic sweet spot for the American left; defense spending steals money from the neediest Americans. In a society which no longer is familiar with military service it is an easy sell. Once America had the "Greatest Generation" which sacrificed mightily to win a global scale war. Everyone had a father, brother, son or uncle who served. It was an exception when someone hadn't served in the military and people freely questioned why not.

That was when we had four decades of Cold War in which few doubted that there was a very large enemy which was only held at bay by America's strength, technology, manpower and training.

We can certainly debate the validity of American involvement in Korea, Southeast Asia, Panama, Grenada, Kosovo, Iraq, and deployed throughout Europe. But we can also notice that nuclear war was in fact deterred, the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact collapsed, China became a capitalist economy and world communism is virtually extinct. The few last strongholds of communist government are economic backwaters and societal jokes.

Along the way we can also note that no American ground troops have been subjected to attack from enemy air. No American ships have been sunk by enemy naval forces. And loses in ground combat have numbered in handfuls rather than thousands. Any loss is deplorable but if inevitability of losses in active defense is acknowledged than fewer is clearly better.

Now the Messiah is feeling a dissatisfied electorate breathing down his neck. He needs to strengthen his base and appeal to the "go along to get along" semi-pacifist moderates. What better way than to stand before us surrounded by his bedecked sycophantic Chiefs of the Joint Staffs and tell us he is going to slash defense spending, bestrew roses and laurels among the downtrodden masses and simultaneously keep the wolf from our door?

We'll Cut A Third, Defend with Air/Sea, and Not Buy Ships or Planes

Seriously?

He is going to cut a third of the manpower of the entire military and not lose capability? He somehow links this savings to withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan, which except for the immediate pre-war build-ups of Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom never used that many personnel. He doesn't notice that deployments from garrison mean when the deployment is over you bring the troops back to base to train and re-equip for the next contingency. You don't simply dismantle your force.

He says we will be a better defense but won't embrace a "two-war" strategy which has served us, at least nominally, for the last 70 years. Is it even reasonable to equate Iraq and Afghanistan from 2005 until today with a "two-war" situation? Is Iran a potential large-scale conflict? If we were dragged into confrontation with Iran would Korea take a number and wait to test us? And let's not even notice China.

He describes an air/sea battle doctrine which eschews ground forces in favor of power projection by sea and employment by air while at the same time cutting a carrier battle group and essentially emasculating the F-35 procurement. He anticipates doing this and also saving money by cutting pay, retirement and promised benefits.

No one questions him.

They simply nod and snap their fingers. They've been told that snapping their fingers keeps the elephants away. The look around and see no elephants. They believe.

Breaking Cover

2012-01-05T16:36:00.001-06:00

They avoid the spotlight. They are true heroes and they do remarkable things. Their courage and skill are the stuff of legend and they don't get public recognition.

Occasionally, however, one comes along who has compiled a record of historic accomplishment as a warrior and then it is appropriate that he be honored. He may not be able to return to operations after such publicity. But he may accomplish more good in terms of motivating another generation to follow his warrior path.

Deadliest Sniper Stands Tall

That level of skill and courage is seldom seen. We can consider our nation fortunate to have produced such figures to defend us. Here's a bit of live interview action and a story told haltingly about a comeuppance that seems pretty well deserved.

Stumbling On a Cobra

2012-01-05T09:18:00.000-06:00

Books are intellectual property. They are copyrighted and protected by the law (at least nominally) so that writers can be compensated at least a bit for their efforts in producing them.

I've been fortunate with my books. They've been professionally published by two major publishers. There are contracts in place and you would be amazed at what options are enumerated in the documents. I've had books done in MP3 format, CD, mass-market and trade paperback and even translated into foreign languages, like Finnish!

So, I was neither surprised nor bothered by having a Facebook friend forward me this picture:

Yep, that would be my name on the "Phantom Pilot in Vietnam". The French edition apparently will be released by Altipresse on March of this year. It's already listed for pre-publication sales at several web sites including a handful of European language Amazon portals. Price is pretty respectable. Roughly 24 Euros or 33 Canadian dollars.

I checked with my publisher, St. Martin's Press. They were unaware, but that's not unusual since the contract is held by my agent in New York City, Trident Media Communications. But, my agent had no knowledge either.

I checked to make sure this wasn't a typo. One web page had the author as "Tuomas Rasimus" who turns out to be a Finnish PhD specializing in Greek Stoic Philosophy. Doesn't sound like a Phantom pilot to me. Most of the links I found had "Ed Rasimus" as the writer. I verified with a French-speaking associate that the book is indeed, Palace Cobra.

We contacted Altipresse and they said, "ooops, we made a mistake", but they want to make an offer for publication rights. I suspect that the mistake was thinking that they wouldn't get caught. With a March 1 release date and apparently the translation work already done, their hand is deep in the cookie jar and I'm hoping their offer reflects the gravity of their misstep.

So, for those of you seeking to own a French version of Palace Cobra, you may be able to find one on Amazon.DE or Amazon.FR later this Spring. And you can say you know "the rest of the story."

When Seconds Count

2012-01-04T15:21:00.003-06:00

Get the picture here. This young woman is just eighteen years old. She's got a newborn baby. Her husband has just died of cancer a day or two after Christmas. It is New Year's Eve and two men are trying to break down her door. What does she do?

Call 9-1-1 And Ask...

She does what you are supposed to do. She calls the police. She tells the emergency dispatcher the dire situation. She is on the phone with them for twenty-one minutes!!!!!

But, this is in Oklahoma and this young lady has a 12 gauge shotgun and these two goblins have just arrived at a gun fight armed with a knife.

The real question is why does it take twenty-one minutes to get a police response?

UPDATE: The prosecutors have labeled it a justified killing. Furthermore, they have the second goblin in custody, who befittingly fled the scene when the anticipated victim shot back. Like Texas, the law in Oklahoma specifies that if a killing is a result of your participation of another felony such as a burglary or home invasion, you can be charged with murder! Scum-bag is going to court.

What Happened Yesterday?

2012-01-04T09:33:00.000-06:00

I was ready to see Ron Paul prove the ignorance of America's youth yesterday with a victory in the Iowa caucuses. It was a relief to see that they didn't stampede the sensible folks and his final numbers were well below the estimates. He will hang on for a day or two but there is no other place in the process that will give him the leverage for his followers that he enjoyed in Iowa. That candle has been burned.

Bachmann announced cancellation of her trip to S. Carolina already and has a presser scheduled for a few hours from now. Ba-Bye!

We can't expect any magic from Huntsman. He just doesn't light any fires anywhere.

The near dead-heat finish of Santorum-Romney shows how strong the "Anti-Mitt" feeling is. Romney broke from the gate a year ago at roughly 25% and still closed Iowa at 25% which isn't building big mo'. Santorum apparently connected with voters in Iowa as sufficiently conservative on social issues and more than qualified on political understanding. What he needs now is a grand dollar infusion to get his organizations on the fast track for the next half-dozen contests.

The Ron Paul/Mitt Romney smear attacks drove a large oaken stake into the heart of the Gingrich campaign. Newt's nuanced efforts to stay positive while still pointing out short-comings of his opponents left him battered and bleeding on the political roadside. In the final days he looked exhausted and his message had deteriorated into a repetition of cliched sound-bites that sounded more like playground whining than political genius.

Perry has the money to continue, but at this point I have to hope he has the political wisdom to know when he should leave the field. He has not shown well and is only damaging his brand for future political support.

The Iowa tail has taken an aggressive wag of the national presidential campaign dog. The cliche of "three tickets out of Iowa" seems to have held up and in fact it might prove to be only two tickets for the long ride of January.

Is Anybody Surprised

2012-01-03T14:56:00.001-06:00

If this were not so outrageous it would be laughable:

ATF Rulings Capricious, Contradictory, Confusing

Honestly, could we expect any less from our federal government?

The Caucus

2012-01-03T10:43:00.000-06:00

Surprisingly, even with the overwhelming news coverage of the last six months, few Americans really know much about how a presidential candidate is chosen. They've got some rough ideas and may even have familiarity with some of the terms but when it comes down to details they are blissfully unaware...and that may be exactly the way the political parties like to keep it.

The US is a two-party system. That isn't mandated anywhere. You won't find it in the Constitution. In fact you won't even find political parties mentioned in the fundamental document. If we look at other republics around the world we find most are multi-party systems and upon examination we can find enabling formats that support such ideological diversity. France is multi-party because they have a system of two-stage elections which allow for lesser parties to aggregate voters in the second phase and gain some voice in the parliamentary legislature. Germany is a multi-party system because they allow for both district seats and at-large candidates to serve in the Bundestag. Coalitions of similar parties are required to form governments and there is considerable ideological mobility in response to political demands of the electorate.

In the US we have single-member winner-take-all elections. There is no silver medal for second place. Win by one vote and you get the whole prize. Be a member of one of the two major parties or be voiceless in the legislature, be ignored by the media and be spurned by the voters/contributors. Our two parties choose candidates by processes defined in each state and often differing between the two parties in the same state.

When it comes to the Presidential candidate of the party, the choice is made by delegates voting at the party convention. Delegates are gained by each state through primary election or caucus. Iowa, as we all should know by now, is having a caucus tonight.

Fourteen states have some form of caucus for either or both of the parties. As we watch events unfold we may form an opinion of whether or not a caucus is an attractive method of choosing delegates for the state to send to the national convention. In Iowa it looks pretty intelligent. But is it?

A caucus is simply a meeting of people with some affinity connection. We've got the Congressional Black Caucus--African-Americans in Congress. We've caucuses of Republicans and Democrats in each chamber of the legislature. And we've got party caucuses in states.

In Iowa we've watched "retail" politics. Baby-kissing and pressing the flesh prevail. Candidates show up at coffee shops and American Legion halls. They meet folks from down the block in the living room of a neighborhood leader. It's face-to-face, get to ask your question and watch for the sincerity factor. It should result in a smarter decision-maker at choice time.

Tonight they will gather by precinct across Iowa. Supporters of the candidates will present brief speeches explaining why their candidate is superior. Those in favor of candidates will gather in like-minded groups and a period of time will be allowed for "courting" by other candidates. Then a final division will take place, the heads will be counted and the result will be recorded. No secret ballots.

But think about your friends and family. Do you really have any understanding about what a President can really do? Do you know about the priorities of foreign policy? Can you really explain a means of "fairly" assessing taxes to run the government? Do you know what the Constitution enumerates as a power of government and how far that reaches? Naahhhh, not really.

Can Ron Paul cut a trillion dollars from the budget in one year? What would Michelle Bachmann do to eliminate earmarks that wouldn't give incredible power to bureaucrats? How would Romney deal with Obamacare that wouldn't resemble the Massachusetts program he built? Would Gingrich be able to corral Iran and get them cooperating? Does anybody challenge the actual possibility of the promises? And how does negative mud-slinging impact the decision process?

From my perspective, I don't like caucuses. Iowa probably does it better than most and I'll acknowledge that the Iowa caucus attendee is probably better informed. For most of the other thirteen caucus states, the system is largely biased for entrenched party power-brokers. It gives an inordinate voice to a few.

Is there a bottom line on delegate selection processes? Is there something that has greater impact than caucus or primary method?

I think there is one factor which has greater impact. That is whether the process is "open" or "closed".

A caucus or primary is for the purpose of choosing the nominees of a party. That would imply that the party itself should be in control of the process. Letting outsiders choose your representatives simply doesn't make sense.

A "closed" primary or caucus process in which one must be registered as a member of the party prior to participating makes sense. An "open" system in which members of the other party can become Republican or Democrat instantly for the event is subject to disruption and outside influence.

Keep that in mind as we start to go through the next couple of months. When you view a caucus or primary notice whether the system in use is open or closed. See who is choosing the nominees for a party.

Oh, and inform yourself on the candidates and the issues and play the game yourself.

Tar & Feathers

2012-01-02T09:32:00.001-06:00

The seasonal bleeding is now officially over. It wasn't pretty last night. What was once America's Team is now firmly in place as Jerry's Jokes. The line for the game was Giants by three and that is usually the standard line for equal teams with one gaining home-field advantage. It never looked that close for a minute. By the half with the score 21-0, the outcome was assured.

The pre-game demonstrated once again the fallacy of having Sports Chick on the sideline looking cute and making pithy comments about her recent conversations with coaches and players. She waxes eloquently on the medical condition of Romo's injured hand. They offer comparative close-up photos of swollen paw and then analyze the pre-game warm-ups where all snaps were taken from shotgun formation. "Romo won't be able to take a single snap from under center..." she confirms.

First play of game, Romo is under center. Romo is handing off with right hand. Romo is under center again. Romo is throwing routine interceptions and taking regular sacks with full mobility of right hand. So much for Dr. Sports Chick.

Defensive genius Rob Ryan wears baseball cap, possibly in an attempt to cover his 1885 Buffalo Bill hairdo which has not seen Pantene conditioner or even Tide detergent since Reagan was President. Manning picks the secondary apart, avoids blitzes, shatters zones and simply scores at will.

The question now is what does Jerry Jones do to fill his multi-billion dollar monument to excess next year?

Some suggestions:

Send Rob Ryan to Wade Phillip's house in Houston in a four-hundred pound crate with no return address
Offer Romo on the free agent market to Buffalo
Propose a $200 million buy-out of Indianapolis first-round pick and use it to get RB Griffin III.
Hire Peyton Manning as quarterback coach
Post guards at the door to the Jones suite at the stadium so Jerry can't interfere with coaches
Make defensive players carry a 55 gallon drum around with them all summer until they learn how to wrap up and tackle
Teach offensive line to count to three so they don't false start

It ain't gonna happen, but it should.

And By Coincidence

2011-12-31T13:25:00.000-06:00

This just in:

Virginia Attorney General Points Out the Obvious

A political party process dictated by any state which effectively limits the ability of legitimate candidates to compete is inherently flawed.

Saturday Morning Guitar Boogie

2011-12-31T09:53:00.000-06:00

The Pluralistic Society

2011-12-30T11:27:00.000-06:00

The pundits are going to be in overdrive for the next four days. They have been telling us sequentially who is going to be the GOP presidential nominee for nearly a year and a half. They have elevated and then decapitated one after another, shaping the race and molding the minds of the mindless masses. They've got a disaster in the White House and they want to keep him there for another four years. They know what is best for us and they've seen behind the curtain that the big bucks come to those who support the administration even while the administration is ostensibly vilifying the wealthy. How does Corzine misplace $1.2 billion? How does a solar cell company with a $400 ~~billion~~ million cash infusion go bankrupt in a year?

Now we are getting to crunch time. Actual voters will be expressing actual preferences starting next Tuesday. The snowball is going to roll. But does it really reflect much of anything when it does begin that trajectory?

Iowa is a caucus state. Do you know what that means? It means a marketplace of competing ideas thrown into an arena of neighbors gathered for one cold and snowy night and then a division of preferences rather than a secret ballot. Supporters stand and pontificate on why their conservative is better than your RINO. Some of those pontificators might actually have facts at their command and some might actually be oratorical geniuses. But does it reflect a political preference for the nation to be swayed?

Think about America. Now think about Iowa. Does Iowa look like a microcosm of our nation?

Is Iowa 18% African-American? Is Iowa 16% Latino? Does Iowa have a single metropolitan area of a million people? What is Iowa's industrial contribution? What religious diversity does Iowa have? What percentage of Iowa falls into each economic class and how does that compare to America? Iowa has just seven electoral college votes.

Iowa is rural, agricultural, white-bread, small town Protestant. It's lovely but it really is a very tiny tail wagging a very dissimilar dog.

What will we see come Tuesday? Here's my estimate and it is worth exactly what you've paid to come here and read it:

Ron Paul will finish in the top 3. And, as Count Basie would note, "it ain't got that swing..." It don't mean a thing!

Rick Perry will do better than most pundits have predicted, probably at #3 or 4.

Romney will finish top three as well, but his real focus has been on New Hampshire. He's got support and voters could easily vote for him in the general election, so he's comfortable for now. New Hampshire, however, is similarly weak on parallels to America at large so it may not be very meaningful in the long run.

Gingrich will barely remain in the top tier. He may surprise but I'm suspecting the Ron Paul slash attacks have wounded him among many Iowa voters. That's too bad.

Santorum will be the surprise strong showing. He's burned up shoe leather and he's a likable guy with an approachable style. I think that will play well in Iowa.

Bachmann and Huntsman will drop into the background noise level.

Paul
Santorum
Romney
Perry
Gingrich
Bachmann
Huntsman

But after Iowa, Paul will peter out.

The Proper Role of Government

2011-12-28T12:16:00.001-06:00

You've often heard me comment on "the proper role of government" in my postings. Quite often that frustrates the ideologically pure because it requires them to suspend their morally superior position and simply ask if the action which they seek is within the realm of a government's necessary functions. Something may be prudent and proper, ethical and correct, but it may be a function of individual responsibility and choice rather than governmental mandate.

Want an example?

Something To Vote On in Los Angeles

So what happens if they move the location to a nice beachfront home in Oxnard?

Memorializing

2011-12-27T12:13:00.001-06:00

One does not let an heroic moment in time pass without erecting a suitable memorial. Those who sacrificed so much should not be quickly forgotten. "Never in the course of human conflict have so many owed so much to..." To these scumbags?

The Bishop of London Goes Bats***

But what would be suitable? Here is one of the suggestions:

Or an installation by Chris Offili of dirty needles, condoms and unsold copies of the Socialist Worker sitting on a pile of elephant poo?

Indeed! It could be the touchstone of a worldwide chain of similar installations at all of the defaced sites of the Occupy Movement.

It's Only Money

2011-12-27T10:32:00.001-06:00

How can anybody win an election if they don't give candy to the voting kiddies? Seriously, you can't buy enough votes if you don't provide adequate pay-offs, kick-backs and presents.

Slip Me Another Trill and a Half

You know the drill by now. We'll simply repeal the Bush era tax cuts and maybe tweak the rate for "millionaires...aka those making more than $250k/year) up a few points. That should do it.

Did Santa Bring a Glock?

2011-12-27T10:01:00.000-06:00

I've never liked Glocks. Don't own one and have never been tempted to buy one. But they are common, popular, and affordable. So, if you might have received a Glock for Christmas you may want to clean it properly before taking it out for the first shooting session. Even if you didn't get a Glock, the basics here are applicable to most quality firearms. Cleaning a gun can be fun:

Unicorn Hunting

2011-12-26T09:56:00.001-06:00

Harry Reid may be the dullest, blandest, most scripted and possibly even most ignorant individual ever to occupy the position of Senate Majority Leader. I've never seen him speak extemporaneously. I don't think I've ever seen him look squarely at the camera. I don't think I've heard a hint of modulation as he delivers his talking points. He's a drone. But he's a powerful drone.

You know the mantra. The only solution to the nation's economic problems is massive redistribution. You can phrase it however you please, but the policy position is to increase the "progressiveness" of our tax structure to take more and more from the successful and cut the few remaining tax levies on more and more of the population to insure that they vote Democratic in gratitude. It works quite well so far.

Who creates jobs?

You just got a magnanimous $20 a week for the next eight weeks. It isn't an additional twenty, it's simply not taking a twenty back that they gave you last year. So how many folks are you planning to hire with your windfall?

According to Sen. Reid, it isn't millionaires that hire people. A millionaire job creator is like a unicorn, he says. They don't exist. So what happens if someone seriously examined the data?

Unicorns Found in Forest of Free Enterprise. Lot of Them!

Isn't that surprising? Well, no it isn't. It's purely logical.

Millionaire tax filers earn $221 billion – almost a quarter of a trillion — from business and professions, partnerships, and S-corporations. This is puzzling: If Harry Reid’s figure is correct (2,361 millionaire businesses), then the average millionaire-owned business earns almost a hundred million dollars, and all, except 118 of them, do this without hiring anyone. These super heroes do their own typing, selling, drafting. public relations, building, and manufacturing. They do not need employees. Remarkable!

But then his party has never quite understood the concept of supply/demand, capitalism and free markets, labor and production. These seem so simple, but they are so seldom recognized.

Stuck on Stupid

2011-12-24T10:15:00.002-06:00

C'mon folks. Can we get real here? A pair of shoes is not going to make you the jive-ass king of the 'hood.

Charlotte Loses It Over Sneakers

Atlanta Gots to Have Air

Tukwila? Where Da Hell is Tukwila?

Bay Area Bang Bang For Booties

Detroit Break-In

If we want to get into a discussion about total societal breakdown and what it looks like, this might be a good starting point.

Anybody remember what Christmas is about? Anybody? Bueller? Bueller?

A Lot of Christmases Past

2011-12-24T09:59:00.001-06:00

Maybe Snow Tonight

2011-12-23T11:18:00.001-06:00

I Won't Read Another Poll

2011-12-22T12:17:00.000-06:00

The horse-race handicapping of the Presidential contest is simply out of control. The meaningless drivel of comparative match-ups by competing polling firms each trying to decipher trends, influence policy and make profits is no longer relevant.

Maybe it is time to dust off the Constitution. Remember that document? It defines America. It does three essential things. Most people don't realize that. Any constitution does just three things:

Define the organization of a government
Define the operation of that government
Define the limits of the power of that government

See? You didn't know that did you? You ascribed much broader purposes to the document but in the process you overlooked the essential power of the writing itself.

Why should we go back to the document? Because we need to review how it prescribes the choosing of our chief executive. You don't know what it says. Hell, Al Gore apparently didn't know what it said when he whined that George Bush didn't win the election in 2000.

Here it is:

2: Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.
3: The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by Ballot for two Persons, of whom one at least shall not be an Inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they shall make a List of all the Persons voted for, and of the Number of Votes for each; which List they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the Seat of the Government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the Presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the Certificates, and the Votes shall then be counted. The Person having the greatest Number of Votes shall be the President, if such Number be a Majority of the whole Number of Electors appointed; and if there be more than one who have such Majority, and have an equal Number of Votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately chuse by Ballot one of them for President; and if no Person have a Majority, then from the five highest on the List the said House shall in like Manner chuse the President.

Ok, you thought you knew that. But did you notice that there is not one single word in that description about any general election? There is nothing about a common citizen casting a single vote!

"Each state shall appoint" in a manner determined by the state legislature means that electors aren't themselves elected.

Why was it done this way? Quite simply because the Founding Fathers had a pretty firm belief that an emotional electorate would succumb to pandering and payoffs leading to corrupted and ineffective governance. And they have been proven absolutely correct, haven't they?

(Please note that the 1-2 selection of President and VP was modified by the 12th Amendment but still doesn't include any citizens voting.)

Shoe On Other Foot

2011-12-22T09:18:00.001-06:00

It pays for your Social Security (theoretically). A year ago you were doing OK with the contribution then the Messiah sent you a half a loaf of stale bread for the coming year. To stimulate your extravagant spending he offered you a ONE YEAR reduction of 2% in the payroll tax withholding. For most folks it was virtually unnoticeable. Typically it came to about $20 a week. Hardly a spending spree. For some it got offset by rises in Medicare premiums. My monthly actually dropped by the frightening amount of $2.50.

Now the one year is up and the Bamster squeals. This is tragic. We must extend it again and keep the huge spending wave going forward and the recovery surging...or whatever. So he asks for a year extension, his Democratic controlled Senate gives him two months and the House balks in favor of his desired one year reprieve but they become the bad guys.

How bad is this? Well the White House is collecting sob stories for the media:

No Pizza! No Trip to Grandma's!

But there is one thing that confuses me in this.

If this one year pittance not being extended is so punitive, how is that different than the Bush-era tax cuts that have been in place for eleven years now? They put much more cash in the consumer's hand, they've been in place for a decade, and the economy flourished despite the tragic beginning of the period with 9/11. Only as the clock ran down and the uncertainty of the future began to loom did we see a down-turn and that was linked quite closely to the housing collapse.

Bush tax cuts bad. Bamster chump change good. Seems like simply a matter of scale here.

Some Christmas Guitar

2011-12-22T08:43:00.001-06:00

Fighter Porn

2011-12-21T10:12:00.001-06:00

5th generation fighter planes from Gizmodo on Vimeo.

Unwanted At Any Price

2011-12-21T10:08:00.000-06:00

Last year in what was conspicuously out of character for Car & Driver magazine, they declared the Chevy Volt as "Car of the Year." So, how has this automotive masterpiece fared in the free market?

Sales are abysmal. But that is even after the artificial bloating of the poor numbers by federally funded (and directed) fleet buys for local government entities. "I'm shocked, simply shocked..."

Could the administration be finagling the "success" story?

But what is it really costing? You won't believe it:

How about $250,000.00 each?

Continuing Christmas Week

2011-12-21T09:52:00.001-06:00

After Alice, where could I go?

Decryption Required

2011-12-20T14:41:00.001-06:00

Help me to understand this. The country needs jobs and we are all supposed to believe that tax relief to low and middle-income wage earners will suddenly flood the market with spending thereby driving factories to expand, tool up and hire thousands of workers creating a Keynesian perfect storm of growth. From my perspective that's partially true and partially political rhetoric.

Now I begin to get confused. The President claims that a 2% reduction in the payroll tax withholding which pays for Social Security can do that sort of stimulating. We've had it for a year now and it doesn't seem to have set the business world on fire. It has been a temporary measure since it was established, everyone knew that, and it expires at the end of the calendar year.

No one is claiming it worked. But, the President has asked, demanded, decreed, or threatened to hold his breath until he gets his way if Congress doesn't extend the payroll tax relief for another year. OK, maybe I'll concede that like chicken soup for a cold, it couldn't hurt. Except for another $120 billion in deficit spending to keep those SS checks flowing to the old folks which might be viewed as a bit of damage.

Here's where it gets weird. The House of Representatives supports a one-year extension and despite being heavily in the Republican majority they take the President's position. The Senate which is in the majority from the President's own party has just passed a ludicrous bill offering a two month continuation of the payroll tax relief and a two month extension of the now longer than three years of unemployment benefits. TWO MONTHS!

The amount of the payroll tax cut is generalized as $1000 for the year. So two months will be about $85 per month. How many folks do you intend to hire with all of that extra cash in hand? How long a contract will you sign with your new workers?

The Democrats howl victory. The House Republicans balk and say they must have a full year extension. And the President claims it is the Republicans who won't let him have his way.

I just don't get it.

Intro to International Relations 101

2011-12-20T09:05:00.001-06:00

A key aspect of the study of international relations is to appreciate the need to respect the culture of the people with which you are dealing. While it might be morally correct and emotionally satisfying to overlay the diplomacy with the facade of western values, the reality is that in many of the tinder-boxes of the world those values don't apply. Social engineering on our behalf is naive and predisposing failure.

What am I talking about? Try this on for size:

Women Will Be Involved in Policy Negotiations

Seriously? How do you think that is going to play in Afghanistan? Saudi Arabia? Sub-Saharan Africa?

Let us note that in many areas of the world women have been politically active for some time and in fact, there are many instances of female success in gaining power and leadership roles. Margaret Thatcher is obvious as well as Golda Meir. Benizir Bhutto, Indira Gandhi, Cristina Kirchner and Angela Merkel are good examples as well. But those are reflections of the societal acceptance within those nations. We don't get to tell them who represents them or who will sit at the negotiating table. We simply don't have that authority.

As a result, U.S. combatant commanders will have an officer dedicated to gender issues to ensure protecting women is central to planning, and American diplomats will focus on bringing women into the political process as a core part of their work.
"Enabling women to have a voice alongside those of men in matters of international peace and security is the right thing to do," a senior administration official said.

That's all a field commander needs! Gotta have an officer "dedicated to gender issues" on the staff. How about an officer dedicated to supply, logistics, communication, fire support, tactical control, etc. War is about killing people and breaking things. "Anything else is rubbish."

And, memo to Hillary: They are COMBAT commanders, not combatant commanders.

If You've Been Naughty...

2011-12-20T08:24:00.001-06:00

It might not be pretty.

Good News--Bad News

2011-12-19T09:59:00.000-06:00

By now you've seen the headline:

Kim Jung Il Assumes Room Temp

So what comes next?

He paved the transition pathway last year with the elevation of his manifestly unqualified and virtually unknown third son to four-star general status and several other high-level party positions. This would put the qualification for chief executive of North Korea on a par with the incumbent of our own White House. That might be good news for us as a bumbling youth tries to learn on the job. But a bumbling youth with delusions of grandeur and competence in charge of a nuclear (sort-of) power is a tad scary. It might work in a stable and established democracy, but in an authoritarian autocracy things can shake out differently.

We may see a modernization effort and rapprochement with the West and NK's neighbors ala Gorbechev/Yeltsin. Or we might see a frantic attempt at consolidation of power and a demonstration of brutal control exercised through a cadre of loyalists seeking their own benefits. Somehow I think the latter is more probable.

Or we might see an attempt at a coup before such consolidation has a chance to take place. Ambitious opponents with access to a very disciplined military might attempt an overthrow of the dictator. And, that as well, could go either way with respect to the relations with the rest of the world.

Indeed I do live in interesting times.

Christmas is Coming

2011-12-19T08:29:00.001-06:00

Money's No Object

2011-12-18T11:45:00.003-06:00

Well, he is the President and he's been ~~campaigning~~, make that working, really hard solving the nation's free enterprise problems and keeping the masses funded with what is now approaching three years of unemployment benefits. So, while you struggle to keep your job and eke out a bit more from the nearly $100 you won't contribute to your retirement, the Bamster and the Missus toddle off for a few days in a tiny beach-front condo in a run-down neighborhood of Hawaii, just a few doors down from the Western White House which will be vacant.

A Few Million Here, a Few Million There

And lest she and the girls have to languish in the White House itself for an extra three days or so, they've taken the other jet on their own.

Makes you glad to know he's serious about America tightening our belts.

Truth Suppression?

2011-12-18T10:38:00.001-06:00

Yes, I am paranoid. But that surely doesn't mean that my freedoms aren't being threatened by government. It merely means I'm concerned and cautious.

So, you may have heard about the Audi Motors President trashing the Chevy Volt as a "car for idiots." The Drudge Report had a header and link for the last two days. The catch is that when you go there to read the full interview, the site is "down for maintenance." Coincidence?

Maybe you can find the original story by a Google of search terms like "Audi President Chevy Volt Idiot". Yep, lots of hits at various blogs. Links from all of them dead-end and one or two indicate that the story has been "taken down." Is this simply a random occurrence?

Finally I found a New York Times piece. Here we get a follow-up in which the core of the matter is that Audi has "walked back" the quotes. Make up your own mind:

Who Pays 15 Gees Extra For a Sub-Standard Corolla Equivalent?

Does that sound like Government Motors exercising their Agit-Prop arm to spin the story as the Volt simply being too far ahead of its time?

Not to me, but maybe a little bit...

In The Season

2011-12-18T10:18:00.001-06:00

Saturday Morning Rocker

2011-12-17T08:22:00.000-06:00

Iowa Debate

2011-12-16T09:44:00.001-06:00

Superficial impressions gleaned from last night's showdown:

Newt exercised restraint, defended himself against outrageous assertions, avoided attack responses, and largely came off as competent but with a few valises in the hall closet.

Romney looked better (to me) than I had seen him before. He was well prepped and looked the model of executive competence. His major asset is private sector experience and familiarity with government relationships.

Ron Paul had my benefit of the doubt going into the event. I've previously expressed here that I thought he was a loon, but his recent surge in the polls caused me to give him a second look. He didn't disappoint. Every time he opened his mouth he looked like a nut job. Whether it was rambling about Austrian economists or single-handedly cutting a trillion off the budget in his first year, or reverting to 19th century isolationism, he always sounded like a fringe weirdo.

Michelle Bachman confirmed my judgment that she is a button-pushing harpy with little in the way of policy suggestions or reasonable proposals. Like a yippy little Pomeranian she barks with more noise than her bite justifies.

Rick Santorum is a conundrum. He should have more traction, but he simply isn't lighting the electorate's fire. Can't figure out why.

Rick Perry sinks further in my estimation. He simply isn't bringing the right sized guns to the OK corral. He may not possess such weapons.

And poor John Huntsman, who should have some level of appeal, continues to mumble about Utah's success and how to be an ambassador to Beijing. I honestly think even I could effectively govern a state which is predominantly white, hard-working and moral. It can't be that hard with that environment.

Light at the End of the Tunnel

2011-12-16T09:23:00.000-06:00

In a rare glimpse of common sense we see a Congress that might be able to recognize when they have been going down a path which was well beyond the Constitutional range of delegated and reserved powers.

Let There Be Light--Inexpensive, Common, and US Made

I tend to be an early-adopter of many technologies. I'm not a "save-the-planet" eco-freak because frankly I'm just a selfish old man living at the top of the food chain. I enjoy living in the 21st Century with all of its conveniences. But, I liked the idea of a long-lasting, efficient and low-temp light bulb. I bought a veritable plethora of twirly bulbs.

I soon learned that they are incredibly impractical. They don't respond to faders. They don't provide full light on turn-on. They come in three-way, but after six attempts to find a suitable version I gave up the search for a curly-q that fit in a standard table lamp harp. And, in short order I found that the "seven times longer than incandescent" was a lie. Seven times more expensive, but about the same lifespan in my usage.

Over the last year I've stock-piled a dozen or so 50-100-150 bulbs awaiting the end of civilization as I know it. Now, we've got the Make-China-Rich law repealed and we can once again have practical inexpensive lighting in our homes.

Christmas Shopping

2011-12-15T12:03:00.001-06:00

In Texas, you simply complete the paperwork, wait for the instant background check and take your purchase home. If you hold a TX Concealed Handgun License, you only have to do the paperwork for the licensed dealer and the call-in is waived.

It's not so quick and clean in California, but they've been in the "Omigod guns are bad" camp for decades. Despite the paperwork and the satisfaction of the federal instant check requirement, you still must wait ten days to "cool off." I suppose no one has noticed that crimes generally aren't committed with guns purchased from FFLs and criminals tend to steal their firearms along the way. Bottom line, however, is that the waiting period is not much of a deterrent for folks doing prudent Christmas shopping this year.

Sales Boom to Wise Purchasers

Giving the gift of security, protection, enjoyment and tradition is a good choice.

Good News--Bad News

2011-12-15T11:28:00.000-06:00

Polling shouldn't be about shaping the message. It should be about simply measuring the opinions for better or for worse.

Consider the outcome of this polling effort:

Harvard Millennials Not Convinced

One would think that those young folks immersed in the bath of political correctness and the ideological concepts of the administration would be firmly committed to the belief of the preponderance of support for the incumbent. But, they doubt him. I'd call that good.

They don't, however, see any of the Republican contenders as beating him head-to-head. That might be bad. Is that simply because they are fragmented in their support for a replacement? The question of how the support breaks against a generic opponent apparently was not definitive. It leaves confusion about how Obama loses yet is seen as beating any opponent.

Almost a third of those polled show interest in the Occupy movement. That's good in terms of simple awareness of the world around them. The ivory tower appears to have some windows. But if those interested are supportive of the destruction of the free market and the embracing of redistribution, then that's bad. You can't really determine degree of support since 46% won't express their position. If that is a manifestation of their ignorance, that's bad. If it is a reflection of political pressure to comply and avoid challenging their surroundings, that's bad.

The level of pessimism regarding the direction of the nation is reasonable. Whether good or bad would be determined by how the correction is chosen. If the trend is a return to the values and principles which made the nation great, then clearly good. If the option is revolutionary and manifest through abandonment of our core than certainly bad.

We'll probably all be a lot smarter regarding how things are going to play out next month when some actual votes that mean something are recorded. The handicapping will be over and the actual running will be underway.

Abuse of Office

2011-12-14T10:44:00.000-06:00

It would be impossible to deny that the Presidency of the United States is an incredibly powerful office. That is why we seek to elect candidates who are viewed as "presidential." They must have "gravitas" and exhibit maturity. That's been effective for 43 incumbents in a row. Some were better than others, but all of them understood the concept of limited government, safeguard of rights, and their role in the republic.

Until now:

Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor, Your Republican Friends

The opportunities for abuse in that proposal are manifestly clear. The immaturity and lack of presidential gravitas is evident in this quote from the message:

Who inspires you to give?
This holiday season, we’re giving you a chance to have a little fun at the expense of a Republican in your life by letting them know they inspired you to make a donation to the Obama campaign.
Simply enter their name and email address below. Then, we’ll send them a message letting them know they inspired you to donate.

But, there is also a grand potential for a blowback on that effort. If I've got any Democratic friends who are supportive enough to send the Messiah a contribution and duplicitous enough to offer up my contact information, let them be forewarned that they will get an awful lot of return email from an incredible range of unwelcome sources. The penalty will be severe.

And if the Bamster's minions feel obligated to provide me with unsolicited guidance on my voting choices, there might be some return on that investment as well.

No one should "have a little fun at the expense" of this Republican. It won't be welcome.

It's a River In Egypt

2011-12-13T15:05:00.001-06:00

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. You know that when the Messiah took office unemployment was at 7% with rising rates looming on the horizon. You know that his solution was a $857 billion stimulus to funnel borrowed dollars into "shovel-ready" pork projects in states which supported him for election. You know that the promise was that these "created" jobs would keep unemployment below 8%. You know that ever the next two years the rate went to 10.1 and many analyses say that number is kept artificially low because it drops those who simply stop looking for work. You know that only in the last two months has there been a decline in unemployment below 9%. And, deep in your heart, you suspect that the decline is a temporary result of holiday season temporary hiring.

Debbie Does Denial

That is why if you are a true believer you must deny, deny, deny. There is nothing wrong with that strategy in modern America because most voters can't read or understand numbers. Those that can are falling into minority status although they are not minorities.

I wonder if we can find a nice benevolent dictator to take over for a few years?

A Melody in Honor of Lowe's Home Improvement

2011-12-13T10:35:00.000-06:00

You've probably heard about the brouhaha with Lowe's withdrawing their advertising from a bit of politically correct programming on the Discovery Channel. The oxen bleating about their goring seem blissfully unaware of the concepts of freedom in which a private corporation can spend their money supporting whatever advertising they wish.

Actors Don't Get It

But here's a bit of a tune for Lowe's:

Why?

2011-12-13T09:17:00.000-06:00

Well, it is important to have the right name and the right leverage if you really want to get ahead in the cut-throat world of modern journalism. I guess it is sort of like Presidential politics in that regard, actual experience and capability aren't on the qualification criteria list.

WaPo Declare Most Boring Personality On TV

Because what really counts to America is getting ho-hum reportage from a teleprompter script.

Presidential Similarities

2011-12-12T11:55:00.000-06:00

The Bamster is regularly drawing parallels between his own august personage and well-respected previous incumbents of his office. Most recently he was explaining to the Kansas rubes how similar he is to Teddy Roosevelt, particularly with regard to his performance in mounted combat in Cuba or something. I tend to laugh at first his rantings and then at the rapt faces of the audience whose blank stares and gaping jaws signify the impact of sudden realization that they've been bound and drugged.

But here is a clear case of the Messiah walking in the very same steps as FDR. The similarities are remarkable, only the methodology is different.

Packing and Cracking the Court Prevails

Yes, it was FDR who thought the simplest way to run rough-shod over the Constitutional limitations on his office was to pack the court with loyal minions who would rubber-stamp his wishes. The checks and balances prevailed when the Senate denied confirmation to an additional seven justices.

Here we see the Chicago scholar circumvented by the public demands for recusal of his former Solicitor General. His appointment of a loyal mouthpiece won't work if she continues to exhibit the slightest bit of honesty with regard to her previous advocacy of administration policies.

She recuses on Arizona immigration and she may be led to recuse on healthcare when the topic is raised again as it undoubtedly will after this.

Delusions Highlighted

2011-12-11T13:48:00.000-06:00

I had the misfortune to watch the speech live when it was rendered last week. I commented on the revisionist view of Teddy Roosevelt and the raw appeal to class warfare. Here's another observer talking about the pandering approach to Presidential politics:

Statist Delusions Described in Detail

Yep, when someone says, "this is not about sex," you can be certain it is about sex.

What SEC?

2011-12-11T11:43:00.001-06:00

In yet another big slice of humble pie for the BCS and their parent company, the Southeast Conference, we see that the Heisman Trophy goes to a small school in central Texas which has largely been below the radar for the last twenty years. Baylor played a lot bigger than anyone could have anticipated this year and most of it was largely due to Robert Griffin III.

RG III Wins Heisman for Waco College

The runner-up in voting was not from the SEC either. He came from the PAC 12 and was also from a school which hasn't been thought of as a contender on the national scene for quite a while, Stanford.

The vaunted SEC? Their "Honey Badger" was a distant third and may not be able to pay his hairstylist bill for a couple of months until the first check from his future NFL employer clears the bank.

Insanity

2011-12-10T11:06:00.000-06:00

I can see this as a home-run right down the Bamster's foul line. It's perfect. It's got guilt, debt to poor nations, built in punishment for American success, submission to a bunch of enviro-loons, surrender of national sovereignty, and a dismantling of national defense all built into one feel-good package:

Climate Court of Justice Coming Soon

This is a perfect time to simply say the US will no longer be a member, we will no longer support the organization, and it is time for you to build a nice new Hq building somewhere they love you like maybe Nairobi or Caracas.

Former Harry Reid Staffer Now Director

2011-12-10T09:30:00.000-06:00

Some might think this is simply a diversion to take some focus off the questionable competence of the Attorney General. Some might also think that this is simply another facet of a policy agenda ungoverned by scientific fact or reality. It is a manifestation of government out of control.

Regulatory agencies are supposedly for the purpose of objective oversight of operations which are of concern to the public well-being. They are part of the executive branch of government. They are run by powerful people who ideally would be appointed based on their competence. But, we don't live in an ideal world.

Nuclear Regulatory Agency Chief Gets No-Confidence Vote

Am I misinterpreting when I read that this is a five member commission that Jaczko chairs and if four-out-of-five members signed the letter against him, the only member of the group that supports him is Jaczko himself.

Do I smell the rancid aroma of politically based policy decision on the Yucca nuclear waste storage area? Let me think about it. Former Reid staffer. Reid is Senator from Nevada. Yucca has been a nuclear test and planned storage site for sixty years. Summary cancellation without basis. Anti-nuke policy of the current administration. Disregard of the rest of the commission. Stonewalling of data. Yep, looks, walks, quacks like a duck.

Saturday Morning Rocker

2011-12-10T08:27:00.000-06:00

Mature Evaluation

2011-12-09T08:50:00.000-06:00

Yesterday we were seeing a screed from the ever-shrill Ann Coulter regarding the total disaster the Republican Presidential front-runner would be if nominated. While Ann abhors the Messiah, she delights in destroying Republicans who don't strictly fit into her uber-conservative cookie cutter. I'm not exactly clear whether Abe Lincoln would have made the cut on team Coulter.

Here is a more mature and rational analysis of Newt Gingrich. It isn't a slash-and-burn attack and it isn't an Ode to a Legend. It's simply a balanced coverage of pros and cons. It paints a picture of a man who has made mistakes, stepped on toes, endured successes and failures, and who consistently thinks of big solutions to big problems...some of which may or may not work.

Whatever You've Heard Is True

And having read that, I could live very comfortably under those conditions.

FAA Mishap

2011-12-09T08:37:00.001-06:00

Last week we had the unfortunate incident of the head of the Federal Aviation Administration ~~Agency~~ being apprehended for driving considerably under the influence. He has since resigned and departed the bureaucracy in shame. Now we've discovered the rest of the story.

What could drive a man to such alcoholic excess? These recently released photos from the accident investigation clearly show the cause of his depression. The mid-air was tragic and the impact still isn't fully realized.

Confirming My Own Impressions

2011-12-08T13:31:00.001-06:00

I really find myself repulsed when I inadvertently stumble upon one of his speeches now. I've never experienced this level of revulsion against a President of the United States before, even when I strongly disagreed with his policies and his party. I never felt it against LBJ even though he seemed unconcerned about the men his micro-management of the war was killing. I didn't experience it against Carter despite his destruction of the economy through runaway inflation, exorbitant interest rates and three years of pay freezes for the military. I tolerated his give away of the Panama Canal and his bungling of Iran. He was my President. I didn't feel such emotion when Clinton was acting the buffoon about astro-turf in the bed of his truck, whether he wore boxers or briefs, and what the definition of "is" might be. Defiling of the Oval Office got an apparent pass and I simply shook my head in wonder.

But now I hear a man who aggressively seeks to destroy the nation. He preaches against capitalism and investment. He cultivates dependency on government and he seems unfazed by the concept of limited power established in our Constitution. He makes no secret of his plan to dismantle the private sector and institutionalize a monolithic governmental bureaucracy which can control every aspect of our lives. I'm never sure whether he is channeling Lenin or Mao, Hitler or Mussolini, Chavez or Castro. I know for certain it isn't Jefferson or Madison.

I was appalled on Tuesday when I stopped channel-surfing to watch his speech in Kansas. I thought that now the gloves are off and he has gone so far down the pike that even the American booboisie will notice.

Dan Henninger Confirms My View

That means I'm in good company. I'll confess though that the Corleone link is a new spin. Maybe that's why he writes for the WSJ and I blather on Blogger.

Insight Offered

2011-12-08T10:47:00.000-06:00

As the reincarnation of Bull Moose Teddy continues his never-ending campaign tour around the nation embracing the rhetoric of class divisiveness while simultaneously stifling any real opportunity for economic growth, we get this analysis of his latest wagon load of bread to be dispensed to the crowds gathered hungrily before the Circus Maximus.

Read this analysis of what the Great One proposes and what is suggested as a better alternative:

Payroll Tax Cut Extension Less Effective Than Simple Handout

Understanding the complexities of our progressive tax system is difficult. Some things simply can't be comprehended by the common man. So here's what that analysis covered and maybe a bit of what is between the lines.

The Payroll Tax Cut which the President wants extended is a reduction in your Social Security contributions. It was instituted last year and you probably didn't notice it unless you read about it in the news. You certainly would have had a tough time seeing it in your paycheck. Did you notice how the economy boomed as a result? Did you notice the huge drop in unemployment through the year? Did you create a couple of jobs yourself with all of that left-over cash?

Of course none of that happened. What did happen with some degree of certainty is that cash which should have flowed into the Social Security fund didn't. That means that payments to recipients were drawn from general revenues and the date certain of SS insolvency was moved closer.

The analysis points out that to get the $1000 or so which the President promises, an individual actually must be working! If you aren't working in the first place you don't get any cash to spend under any circumstances. So it really doesn't do much for his devoted followers.

What is much better, the loyal budget analysts suggest, is the trick the Messiah applied the previous year. That was rye bread for the hungry crowd compared to the stodgy old white bread of a payroll tax reduction. It was a direct payment of a chunk of cash. The requirement for actually doing any work was eliminated for the recipients of 2009. Much better in terms of appealing to his voter base. Yes, a direct payment without a linkage to actual earnings first is a much better stimulus. Imagine all the economic boosting that is going to do.

Meanwhile, we've got a loyal neighbor and trade partner next door who is simply begging to sell us their oil. We get oil from our hemisphere. We reduce dependence upon the Middle East and Venezuela. We acquire the product rather than China (who isn't on our side.) We get an instant 20,000 very nicely paid engineering and construction jobs in the heartland. We put our refineries to work. We make an existing pipeline route which has been moving product through the region more productive and we do it safely as proven by the record of the current Keystone pipe.

Surely you know how our leader would view that sort of win-win action. "Let them eat windmills...."

Tell Me Again Who Won?

2011-12-07T11:59:00.000-06:00

I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried. It is December 7th, "a day that will live in infamy..."

So here's how that works in Washington:

Sasha and Malia Sup on Sushi and Sukiyaki

YGBSM! Are they all tone deaf?

Tragedy Ongoing

2011-12-07T08:42:00.000-06:00

Here is an update on what your Air Force is intentionally to doing to the last of an historic breed of aircraft:

The early story was the aircraft were being moved. Here it is apparent that they are being destroyed. The orange crane on the left of the photo bears the spike which is driven through the engine and the wing spars to forever destroy the resource.

The two round holes are the insurance that the wing will never again support flight.

The orange square rod you see is the spike through the engine turbine. This is not accidental. It is a purely malicious act by an arrogant government which is destroying a heritage written in blood by some of the bravest warriors this nation has ever produced.

Who's Driving Da Plane?

2011-12-06T17:09:00.000-06:00

I never even heard of an RQ-170 before. Now I harbor the knowledge that it is affectionately dubbed "The Beast of Kandahar"! Well, apparently the beast was a bit rambunctious and a lot too tame.

Stealthy Vehicle Goes Wandering and Touches Down Gently

OK, I get that it is a remotely piloted vehicle. I understand that these things can possibly do their own version of the "Blue Screen of Death" and like most of our home computers maybe require a reboot or the dreaded firmware update. But isn't this supposed to be some sort of cosmic top-secret spy widget direct from the undergound lair of Q? Didn't we have a little flap-a-doodle a few months ago about a crashed spooky Blackhawk with a super-silent tail rotor? Don't we learn from these events?

So there you are hyper-ventilating in your air-conditioned trailer in your leather Lazy-Boy with your cold can of Red Bull sweating on the neato Air Force logo coaster when suddenly your special custom GameBoy controller no longer seems to be directing the Bat Plane. What do you do? Is this like taking an SA-14 up the prostate exam access receptacle? Will you earn a DFC for this or be severely reprimanded for losing track of your assigned toy? Do you have a checklist covering this situation?

According to the news item, you need not worry because the Spook-mo-Plane is programmed to maintain level flight, draw upon it's genuine OnStar traffic database and find a suitable landing location where it will set down gently without harm to bystanders or voiding your LockMart warranty.

The only catch is that chosen airfield is owned and operated by Iranians-R-Us and they are not our friends. Special delivery, Candy-Gram for Mahmud Ahmadinejad!

What ever happened to "this tape will self-destruct after thirty seconds"? What became of the little fail-safe package and the red button on the console to make all of the secrets disappear before being delivered to the bad guy's research lab? Can't we do a simple thing like mort our own errant drone before turning it over to the enemy?

Maybe Game Boy shouldn't get to wear wings and get combat pay after all. Apparently the really critical man-in-the-loop decisions take a different breed of warrior.

Bowl Crap Series

2011-12-05T10:23:00.000-06:00

The season is over and the match ups are finalized by the totally neutral, totally mechanical, totally just and totally unbiased computers programmed in the bowels of the Southeast Conference headquarters.

The "National Championship" will bring together an undefeated team and a team which is from the same conference, which got beaten in a game with the #1 in which neither team scored a touchdown. The loser didn't even win their division in their conference.

Seriously, does anybody care? The real question will be if LSU can score a touchdown against Bama this time. But what if the Tide rolls and they rack up two or three field goals. How definitive will that "National Championship" be?

Wouldn't anybody love to see the Big 12 offensive juggernaut have a shot? How about the Pac 12 powerhouse? Did somebody forget about the Big 10?

Seriously folks, the BCS is a lot worse than a joke. It is a travesty. It happens annually and we still don't do anything about it. Last year's dismissal of the the Horned Frogs and the total denial of what OSU has done this season makes the BCS a crime against the game.

When Bloggers Go Bad

2011-12-05T08:14:00.000-06:00

This gentleman is an asshole of the first-order. He seems to have no interest in informing himself about facts and apparently takes great pride in misleading.

Read these lies, then please take a moment to register and comment to offer his readers a glimpse of the truth.

Some Old Guy Wants A Jet

This is a bad way to start my week.

Day Late Rocker

2011-12-04T09:52:00.001-06:00

Brave New World

2011-12-02T14:35:00.001-06:00

Luke AFB to speak at a Viper class graduation. Great to see the new generation ready to write history themselves.

Some things change though and they aren't always pretty.

First impressions: who was the buffoon who outfitted aircrews in pastel green suede combat boots?

Why do we have OD green Nomex for stateside units and desert tan for Middle East fliers? Double the cost with no discernible benefit. And that outfit requires tan suede boots. Is this a conpiracy against Kiwi?

Joint "club" now, but there is main enlisted bar and Officer's Lounge. Eight taps for draft beer. Six don't have any beer. Last call is at 8:00 PM. Total clientele? Three retirees, the Support Group commander and his wife, then ten guys from the graduating class. Not single other student, instructor or support officer stopped in.

Other impressions? There appears to be a very strong awareness that the highest levels of the Air Staff are committed to crushing the Warrior Ethic!

CAA

2011-11-30T15:43:00.000-06:00

Would I like to be tied into this group?

Creative Artists Agency

Does the large ursine mammal defecate in the forest? Dreams of a very Merry Christmas dance in my aged head.

This Is Serious Business!!!

2011-11-30T15:02:00.001-06:00

Deja Vu Again

2011-11-30T09:26:00.000-06:00

"Those who will not learn from the lessons of history will be condemned to repeat them."

In Teheran a mob has attacked and sacked the British Embassy. Any attempt to describe the action as a mob which Iranian security forces could not restrain is impossible. Nothing happens in the streets of Iran which does not have the approval of the government. The Iranians are unhappy with sanctions imposed as the civilized world attempts to restrain their efforts to achieve a nuclear weapon and then to fulfill their oft-repeated promise to deliver it on Israel. The whole purpose of sanctioning is to modify behavior. Sanctions are supposed to be unpleasant. The way to lift sanctions is to change your actions.

But in Iranian thinking the way of the future is the destruction of Israel and by extension the rest of the non-Islamic world. If in the process you unleash nuclear Armageddon, so be it. You are martyred in the cause and you will live forever surrounded by houris and lolling in luxury.

This is the deer-in-the-headlights response of the Leader of the Free World. This is what the "most powerful man in the world" does to compel a change in behavior by a rogue nation:

So, the date is November of 2011 and we are one year away from a presidential election. We see American in the throes of an economic recession and we see a once-respected nation now withdrawn from the position of leadership. We relish our secondary role as global by-stander and the President waffles and gripes about the laziness of an America that resists redistribution of their earned wealth.

Does it help to point out that the Bamster might want to dust off a recent history book. Look up what happened in November of 1979, one year away from a presidential election when a nation was mired in economic recession and withdrawn from leadership. The President waffled and griped about a malaise that he could not overcome.

History repeats itself and we need to learn the lessons. The very seeds that were sown on the embassy grounds of the American Embassy in Teheran have matured into the mad-dog president of that rogue nation. Ahmadinejad rose to power on the basis of the role he played in those events.

New York Times May Regain Respect

2011-11-28T11:15:00.000-06:00

It will take a while, I'm certain, but with analysis like this appearing in the pages of the Gray Lady, there is hope:

Abandoning The White Working Class

Isn't that amazing? It honestly acknowledges that it is intellectual non-productive pinheads and welfare sucking dependency drones that constitute a potentially victorious majority in the nation. Is that a rational analysis?

Unfortunately it just might be.

But here is another analysis of the Messiah's thinking. This one from a more right-wing publication, the Washington Times:

Does Bamster Really Want to Win?

My guess is that he really DOES want to get re-elected. He loves the adoration of the hand-picked and filtered masses on the campaign trail. He definitely loves the perks of office. I mean, an executive jet is one thing, but a B747 for yourself and a 757 for the Missus is a whole 'nuther class. He digs the tee-times and the courtside seats. He loves the top rank talent shows in his own living room and the fawning to the left-wing intellectuals telling him he is the smartest guy since Aristotle and easily could best Thomas Jefferson on his worst day.

Where is this all going? I can't tell the future, but I sure can foresee the outcome for the nation either way we go next November.

Interesting Experience

2011-11-27T09:58:00.001-06:00

Yesterday at the Women, Pilots and Aviation Writers event at the Ft. Worth Library, I had fun and even had the chance to get my prejudices reinforced. First, the fun.

I missed my turn to the Ft. Worth Library and so wound up about three blocks north of where I needed to be. Not a problem though as a nice gentleman managing a parking lot redirected me and I found my destination. Surprisingly all of downtown Ft. Worth seems immune to the requirement for handicapped parking spaces. Pulled into a parking lot next door to the library and when I started to deposit all of the money I had in my pocket into the designated "Pay or Die" receptacle, he called to me and told me the extortion is only collected on week-days. Texas folks are nice that way.

Beautiful library and a great venue for a writer's signing event. Immediately met a lot of friends and quickly made some new ones among the writers and readers present.

Shortly thereafter I was scheduled to speak on my recommended route to getting published. A rapt audience of at least seven or eight people filled the 120 seat auditorium hanging on my every word except for the one gentleman who apparently found it a cozy place to get off the street and into a warm napping zone. At least I didn't get booed. Although maybe I did but the sound didn't carry from their little group in the far back row of the auditorium.

Following the presentation I had a chance to meet my long-time FaceBook friend, award-winning author Kathleen Rodgers who introduced me to the Book Section editor of the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram. She had previously held a similar position at the Dallas Morning Star. Kathleen offered that the woman held a Pulitzer. I shook her hand and inquired why I had been unable to get a review of the best selling Fighter Pilot upon release, after the Wall St. Journal coverage, or during the two years since it has been out. I also wondered why a north Texas author with three successful books couldn't get acknowledged.

Her reply was, "I don't need this!" and to simply turn and walk away.

I guess that explains a lot about journalism in America. The inquiring mind first requires stroking, affection and total subservience.

One could also assume the woman had not previously encountered many fighter pilots.

Giving Advice

2011-11-26T11:52:00.000-06:00

Leaving in about an hour for Ft. Worth Central Library where Ft. Worth Veterans Memorial Air Park Museum is holding an all-day event titled, "Women, Pilots, and Writers in Aviation." Gotta say that's an eclectic group.

There will be a collection of about a dozen military authors signing books and a day-long program of speakers on a range of topics from waiting wives to probing the reaches of hypersonic flight and space in the SR-71. I close out the speaker's schedule at 3:30.

Since my research on women is drastically out-of-date and even when it was current my advice probably wouldn't have been very good, I opted out of that topic.

I assumed the other pilots and aviation writers would be talking with their hands, shooting their watches and elaborating on their remarkable achievements without regard to their personal safety or the immutable laws of physics, so I declined to confirm the world's opinion of fighter pilots as arrogant, egotistical, bastards by recounting my exploits.

That left writing as my topic. Coincidentally there was a review in yesterday's Wall Street Journal about a recently opened Broadway stage-play about a seminar group seeking the route to publication at the feet of a successful author and noted cynic. Apparently young eager and aspiring writers pay up to $5000 each to be abused in the name of their art.

My presentation on the route to publication will not cost that much. But I will freely acknowledge that it will be worth exactly what the audience pays for it.

The goal of the day will be to prevent at least one individual from spending his own money to self-publish his worthless rambling which will be the literary equivalent of Uncle Seymour's Super-8 home movie collection from past vacations to the Catskills.

Flaws In The Facade

2011-11-25T12:38:00.000-06:00

Even those who might have been initially sympathetic to the Occupy Wall Street movement have got to be seeing the totally ludicruous aspects of the positions. The class-warfare meme was little more than a facade. The argument of this politically shaped dichotomy between a symbolic "Wall Street" and a down-to-earth "Main Street" was already stretched quite thin.

Wall Street is a market. Nothing more, nothing less. It is a place where willing buyers and willing sellers come together to negotiate a fair price for goods. Someone who facilitates that exchange is a broker. They charge a fee for making that transaction possible and effortless.

Main Street is where the people who want to buy goods live. They can take money and buy goods at a favorable price and then if they have chosen wisely they may be able to sell that product for a higher price in the future. Some will lose and some will win. The marketplace has always been like that. Some may not trade directly, but they trade through their retirement funds, their savings accounts, their profit-sharing plans, etc. Wall Street is where Main Street does business. They aren't two enemy camps.

But the Occupy folks weren't just about that. They also sought "fairness," whatever that means and "justice." They looked into the TV cameras with pleading eyes and wailed about their college loans. They borrowed money without apparent understanding of the concept of a loan. They sought "education" in esoteric studies most of which offered no promise of a meaningful future beyond the ephemeral joy of intellectual pursuit. Now they owe money and can't get a job that matches their nebulous education. So, in fairness, they simply want their debts forgiven. There seems to be little regard for the fairness to the source of the money they received. That agency can simply take the hit.

Now this seems to cement the underlying fact which we've known all along:

Occupy Everything, Sell Nothing

The fundamental economics of their success seem beyond their comprehension. If they block the stores, they damage the corporation and their shareholders. They damage the workers who are striving to succeed for themselves. They damage the customers who are attempting to economize and shop for needed items at the best price possible.

In a recessive economy, the Occupiers who seek everything, apparently are expecting that if all business in America fails, if all Americans are out of work, and if all families are bereft of those items which sustain their lives, then all will be right in the Occupied society of their dim future.

The Occupiers are little more than anarchists, brainless anarchists at that.