Thinking of moving?

If so, Pennsylvania might be a good place to move to, based on this legislation.

h/t to Karl at The Market-Ticker

Exactly

Excellent post on ZeroHedge today: The GOP is dying because the Liberty Movement is thriving.

In Praise of the Fifth Amendment

Excellent lecture. I've watched it several times already and I highly recommend it. Everyone wants to make a big deal about the First and Second amendments, but if you exercise your Fifth Amendment rights, you must have something to hide?

My Thoughts Exactly

I've long held that the love affair that conservatives have with Sarah Palin is based on two things: she's cute, and she says what they want to hear. In some ways, she's the conservative version of Obama; he made all sorts of vague promises on the campaign trail that fell by the wayside once he was elected. I have no reason to believe that she'd be any different once in office. After all, she acted all starry-eyed for Juan McAmnesty in 2008.

When it comes to substance, I'm not sure anyone can make the case that she's a good candidate, which presents a challenge to those that argue we can't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. I'll admit, she's more attractive (as a person, not necessarily a candidate) than Herman Cain; and it would be sort of cool to say I've bought guns at the same store as the President of the USA. But please don't tell me she's for a return to Constitutional government. She is demonstrably not.

Karl Denninger has a post on the subject that hits the nail on the head.

Herman Cain: more of the same

I've been keeping this to myself until now, but given all the hoopla about Cain, I think it's important for some uncomfortable reality to be injected into the discussion. There's a good reason I refuse to jump on the bandwagon for Herman Cain. A lot of drones have already done so, without giving any consideration to the evidence that he's a Company Man. Even though Cain talks a good game, some of his stated positions are far removed from what conservatives and libertarians claim to support, and his past actions and statements are diametrically opposed to the Tea Party folks' demands. My prediction? They'll still vote for him because he's a decent orator. Sound familiar?

Here are some uncomfortable facts that must be faced when supporting Cain:

Following in Rome's Footsteps

I've mentioned before the similarities between our political situation and that of the Roman Republic just prior to its conversion to an Empire under Julius and Octavian. I ran across a very interesting piece today on the economic similarities; it's a fascinating read and underscores Solomon's assertion that "there is no new thing under the sun." We're following the same patterns as those who have gone before us, and the result will inevitably be the same, assuming we continue down this road.

What Destroyed Rome was its Unfunded Government Employee Pensions

H/T Patriot Trading Group

And you thought it was just hyperbole

I've written on these pages before about the American dictatorship, twice: here and here.

Now our traitorous Senate is attempting to give even more power to the office of Caesar the President with S. 679. These are signs of the times, folks. I doubt this particular one will pass, but people need to understand that this threat is very real, and it just a question of statistics: sooner or later, legislation like this will pass, when the circumstances are right for it.

If True, Then I Stand Corrected

Several reports are surfacing to the effect that Obama blinked. If that's true, and Panetta disregarded Obama's order to stand down, then perhaps the R-drones may have a leg to stand on, refusing to give the pResident credit for OBL's demise. Ultimately, it probably doesn't matter.



BHO certainly looks ticked off; maybe his golf game was interrupted.

 H/T WRSA

Arctic Patriot Nails It

Catching up on blog reading today while waiting for some long queries to finish running. Found this post by Arctic Patriot that puts into words about as close as possible to how I felt when I heard OBL was dead. My earlier post was a rant about the stupid but utterly predictable reactions by Republicrats and Demicans to the news. My own personal reaction was in lock-step with what AP feels. Go read it here: A Bit of DILLIGAF

Teasers:

Now that he's dead, do we get OUR CONSTITUTION BACK?

Now that he's dead, will our GOVERNMENT STOP MOLESTING OUR CHILDREN, GROPING OUR WIVES, HUMILIATING OUR PEOPLE, and trampling on the Bill of Rights?

bin Laden was a far lesser threat to the American way of life and liberty than is our own government.

Exactly.

Update: AP has another post that nails it again: Domestic Enemies.

Bin Laden was true to his cause to the end.  He died facing his enemy.  Our oathbreaking, anti-liberty extremist terrorists in DC are traitors.

Preach it brother!

And By The Way...

From Fallen State

Hypocrites Left And Right

It never ceases to amaze me how hypocritical most of the mindless drones in this country are. When a Democrat is president, he can do no right, according to the Republicans. When a Republican is president, he can do no right, according to the Democrats. What's worse is that most R-drones and D-drones are completely blind to this reality.

Hey, bed-wetting Democrats, don't you remember how much crap you gave Bush for the whole "Mission Accomplished" thing? So why are you now insisting that Obama be given lauds for the killing of OBL? Oh, and by the way, what ever happened to your anti-war protests? Your president is involved in even more illegal wars than your favorite punching bag, Bushitler. Oh yeah, and why aren't you blaming Obama and his buddies in Big Oil for high gas prices--higher than they ever were under Bush?

Hey, empty-headed Republicans, you don't get a free pass either. If Bush got so many kudos for "successfully prosecuting the War on Terror" without ever setting foot on the battlefield, how come you won't give Obama the same credit for OBL being killed on his watch? And why are you bitching about Libya when you were 100% behind Iraq and Afghanistan? And where were your economic complaints when Bush shoved TARP down our throats?

You're all a bunch of hypocritical buffoons, and that is why I refuse to associate myself with either of your stupid political parties. It's hard enough voting for one of your idiots; don't expect me to give my time and treasure to support your party.

Rope, Tree, Politician...

Over at the Economic Collapse blog, an article about just how corrupt US politics has become. Americans need to wake up and stop voting for a candidate because of the letter after their name. It's already too late to avoid massive heartburn over the remedies, but the effects of the collapse could be mitigated if we had leaders with intelligence, fortitude, and a willingness to be a one-term candidate.

Out With A Whimper

Some folks may have thought I was overstating my case a while back when I wrote about the American dictatorship. More evidence is piling up, however, that supports the notion that we have indeed finally crossed the Rubicon and are ruled by a Julius. If this historical reenactment continues to unfold (God forbid), the next administration may very well be our Octavian.

That's My Rep

While I don't always agree with him 100%, Carl continues to get my vote at the ballot box, because he is dedicated to protecting parental rights in Alaska, particularly in terms of abortion and home schooling. He has now introduced a bill prohibiting Alaska state courts from honoring foreign law, which is a cornerstone of national and state sovereignty. Way to go, Carl! Keep up the good work and I'll keep voting for you.

Regarding Compulsory Public Education

“The aim of totalitarian education has never been to instill convictions but to destroy the capacity to form any.” — Hannah Arendt

“The purpose of Compulsory Education is to deprive the common people of their common sense.” — G.K. Chesterton

h/t Serge

It's P. T. Barnum's world

"This curmudgeon fellow
really annoys me."

As I get older, I've learned to (usually) bite my tongue when this happens, but it's nearly every day I hear someone say (or read it posted online) something that only a sucker would repeat. The list of these offenses is as long as my arm, and getting longer every day, but they all have the same root cause: a complete and utter lack of critical thinking skills. The Public Miseducation System has been nearly a complete success. Virtually nobody can think any more. Nobody even tries to think, because they believe that they are "thinking" when they regurgitate whatever it is they read online, or saw on television, or heard on the radio. This is not a left vs. right issue; it's not Republican vs. Democrat. It's a complete inability of the vast majority of people in this culture to think, to question their own assumptions, to "trust but verify" no matter the source. It's the result of intellectual laziness coupled with a subtle kind of arrogance: laziness, because most people will simply not lift a finger to verify the veracity of a "fact" they've been fed; arrogance, because, despite the knowledge that they haven't done so, most people believe they have actually thought through their beliefs and practices.

I often find myself guilty of the same crime. I will realize that something I have heretofore accepted unquestioningly may or may not be the truth. I've taken to reading a lot of stuff that I completely disagree with, in the interest of actually proving to myself that I know what I believe and have considered the opposing viewpoints. My own pursuit of truth has cost me personally, but one thing my parents instilled in me from the earliest age was that truth is its own reward, and the cost of truth is irrelevant.

Truth has an enemy: the sucker.

Rock on, Wyoming

Welcome to the elite sisterhood of states (Vermont, Alaska, Arizona, and now Wyoming) that officially recognize the right of their citizens to be armed without a permission slip: Wyoming adopts constitutional carry law.

Walter Williams is my hero

A discussion arose today on Buttface Facebook, during the course of which several self-described conservatives were extolling the virtues of several government programs, and bewailing the inevitable apocalypse that would result if government kept its nose out of the business of its citizens.

This is why I refuse to call myself a conservative; it's meaningless these days. I know too many people who call themselves "conservative" that are quite "liberal" with the money I earned and which was stolen from me via taxation... as long as it's not going to fund something they dislike, such as abortion or health care. The way I see it, the Republican party today is just as bad as the Democrat party when it comes to curtailing personal liberty. Let's not forget, it was "conservative" Republicans that gave us the TSA and the Patriot Act (which the newly-minted "conservative" Tea Party congressmen just reauthorized); and as for the impending economic armageddon, it was "conservative" Republicans that started the current orgy of corporate welfare with TARP.

Anyway, my ranting aside, this particular lecture by Walter Williams is 52 minutes long, but it is well worth your time, assuming you actually care to understand the true impact of government intervention in the private sphere.

The False Paradigm

From Garrison Graphics, the following quote and political cartoon. Most of his political cartoons hit the nail on the head. This one in particular is pretty much how I feel about the political landscape in America today. People vote for their candidates because of the letter after their name, and when it boils down to it, they do so because some talking head on the idiot box told them to do so. Regardless of who wins any particular election, the liberty bequeathed to us by our Founding Fathers is eroded at a constant rate, with virtually every bill that's passed.

"They keep us distracted with left vs. right while giving us the illusion that voting for one of the other parties will solve things. It won't."

The American dictatorship

An amazing thing has happened. I'm not certain when this took place, and it remains to be seen if it will be challenged, but it appears we have completely ceased to be a Republic or even a functional Democracy. We are now a full-fledged dictatorship. Don't believe me? Check out this Department of Justice memo. Pay careful attention to the fourth paragraph, in which the Attorney General states:

The President has ... concluded that Section 3 of DOMA, as applied to legally married same-sex couples, fails to meet that standard and is therefore unconstitutional. Given that conclusion, the President has instructed the Department not to defend the statute in such cases. I fully concur with the President’s determination.

What's wrong with this? Anyone? Oh, that's right... they haven't taught civics in school for decades, so if you mention "separation of powers" to anyone under the age of 40, you're more likely than not to get a funny look and asked, "You mean separation of church and state?"