Cartoon break

"Government is the answer to any problem"

Thank goodness for IBD and cartoons by Michael Ramirez...

Joe Friday & Bill Gannon have some advice for Obama

Stimulus? Stimulate this.

Pork delivery, courtesy of Congressman John Murtha...should it surprise anyone that his constituents love the guy who doles out millions of YOUR money to benefit them?

Thank goodness for that stimulus check -- should kinda polish the whole place up nicely.

Congressman Mike Rogers' opening statement on Health Care reform in Washington D.C.

From Michigan? Who'd have thunk it?

I don't think anyone has said it better...

"We're sorry, but the fingers you have used to dial are too fat..."

"Dear *****:

As someone who has previously contacted our office to share your thoughts on issues important to you, I would like to take this opportunity to invite you to participate in a live statewide healthcare tele-town hall meeting this Sunday, August 23 rd , at 7:00 PM. Along with people like you from across the state, I will be joined by Dr. Denis Cortese, CEO of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, and Mary Wakefield, the highest ranking nurse in the federal government. The three of us will discuss the need for health care reform, including ways to make the American health care system more affordable and more stable, and I will answer as many questions as I can from citizens from around the state.

If you would like to participate in this important discussion, the only way to guarantee your involvement is to visit our website at http://klobuchar.senate.gov or click HERE and enter your contact information. Once you’re registered, you’ll get an automated reminder phone call on Friday evening and you’ll be called again on Sunday to be joined to the call. The phone number you provide will be kept private.

If you have any questions, you can call the office toll free at 1-888-224-9043.

I look forward to hearing from you on Sunday.

Sincerely,

Amy Klobuchar
United States Senator"

This is the email I received last week from Senator Klobuchar. Days after the flurry of ever-changing stories from the Obama White House about why people were suddenly receiving unsolicited emails and the ultimate revelation that yes, the White House was going to change the way they 'gather' emails...even though it is generally accepted that such an intrusion into the people's privacy is at best a BAD miscalculation -- and at worst, illegal.

Hmmmm...

Forgive me for missing my opportunity to speak my mind to the Honorable Senator from the State of Minnesota, but, having already given her my email -- along with a couple of long missives in which I, no doubt, placed myself clearly in the camp OPPOSITE the F.O.B. (Friends Of Barack) -- well, I thought it best NOT to give out my unlisted phone number, as well. ("The phone number you provide will be kept private"...kind of like my email address, right?)

Well, it looks as though my fears were misplaced -- numerous persons have reported in the media and the blogosphere this week that they either MISSED the tele-conference altogether ( the promised phone call came at the appointed time and apologized for having missed the event -- "but you can listen to a recording online") or were initially connected, only to be cut-off shortly into the call. "Technical Difficulties", that most elusive of gremlins, has been blamed for keeping those tough questions from stumping the good Senator. (Who knew? Technical Difficulties are liberals?)

Not only had Amy managed to avoid a contentious, argumentative crowd in a live meeting, but she had (conveniently) missed their calls -- although she did leave them the long-winded "sorry I missed you" message with the online 'recording' of the festivities. As they say in business, it's always much easier to get rid of a phone call than a warm body.

Not that she should be criticized TOO harshly, considering Angry Al Franken's cloak of invisibility to the people of Minnesota. Has anyone seen Al since the Senate recessed? Anyone? (crickets)

Perhaps this tele-conference idea would have been a smarter move for other legislators around the country -- or maybe it was a response to the difficulty they were obviously experiencing, crafted only after waiting to see how the rest of the nation was panning out.

For one, those 'organized' protesters that were holding their elected officials' feet to the flames of public opinion were hard to avoid in the public forums. By forcing them onto phone lines, they would be much more manageable. And at the very least, the scheduled tele-conference avoided the appearance of RUNNING from the electorate by having NO meetings.

But have the people been silenced? Will they now back down into their dens and let the House and the Senate have their way with them -- regardless of the overwhelming sentiments they brought to the nation's townhall meetings and the media airwaves? Are our elected representatives that ignorant, that cynical -- or that sinister?

Let's hope not.

But leave your answering machines on just in case -- it's likely that Senator Klobuchar still has that list of phone numbers.

PostScript: I stand corrected. Al Franken speaks out !!! While listening to the radio in the car this AM (8/26), I heard the announcement come in that Al Franken is holding two health care 'round table panels' TODAY, at 10AM and 3PM. Let's see, the announcement of the events was drafted yesterday, received at the radio station TODAY after 8AM, announcing events on the most riveting issue of the moment.

Hmmm...seems to me that this might be orchestrated to make the events as unknown and un-attendable as possible to the people who seem to have the most significant interest in (and, coincidentally, the highest rate of opposition to) the proposed 'changes' (read that: 'government takeover') of our health care system -- namely, those with JOBS. Apparently Al is NOT remaining silent on the issue, he is just making his pronouncements to (intentionally) empty rooms (reminiscent of the old tree falling in the woods metaphor). Makes you wonder whether he has already made up his mind about the vote in the Senate -- much like those other all-knowing representatives of the people who plan to vote for the overhaul because they know better than the people who sent them to Washington in the first place.

Or maybe I'm just paranoid.

A Doctor's take on State controlled medicine...

"I quit when medicine was placed under State control some years ago," said Dr. Hendricks. "Do you know what it takes to perform a brain operation? Do you know the kind of skill it demands, and the years of passionate, merciless, excruciating devotion that go to acquire that skill? That was what I could not place at the disposal of men whose sole qualification to rule me was their capacity to spout the fraudulent generalities that got them elected to the privilege of enforcing their wishes at the point of a gun. I would not let them dictate the purpose for which my years of study had been spent, or the conditions of my work, or my choice of patients, or the amount of my reward. I observed that in all the discussions that preceded the enslavement of medicine, men discussed everything-except the desires of the doctors.

Men considered only the 'welfare' of the patients, with no thought for those who were to provide it. That a doctor should have any right, desire or choice in the matter, was regarded as irrelevant selfishness; his is not to choose, they said, but 'to serve.' That a man's willing to work under compulsion is too dangerous a brute to entrust with a job in the stockyards-never occurred to those who proposed to help the sick by making life impossible for the healthy. I have often wondered at the smugness at which people assert their right to enslave me, to control my work, to force my will, to violate my conscience, to stifle my mind-yet what is it they expect to depend on, when they lie on an operating table under my hands? Their moral code has taught them to believe that it is safe to rely on the virtue of their victims. Well, that is the virtue I have withdrawn. Let them discover the kind of doctors that their system will now produce. Let them discover, in the operating rooms and hospital wards, that it is not safe to place their lives in the hands of a man they have throttled. It is not safe, if he is the sort of man who resents it-and still less safe, if he is the sort who doesn't."

A Canadian M.D.? British, perhaps?

Neither -- Dr. Hendricks spoke those words after dinner in the home of Midas Mulligan, on page 744 of "Atlas Shrugged", by Ayn Rand -- in 1957.

It can't be argued too strongly -- if you are given to reasoned, rational consideration of things political; if you have a tendency to view government as an operational arm of your charitable impulses -- whatever your stripe, there is something for you in this tome.

"Atlas Shrugged" has been an epiphany of sorts for me. Ayn Rand, the so-called founder of Objectivism, has left us a virtual prophecy of the perils of government taking on the role of Nanny-State. We are guided through a world where man has rejected the 'philosophy' of reason and self-sufficiency and has adopted a new standard of whatever is in the "public good". Government-run corporations: Good, Capitalism: bad. Sound familiar?

If I had to distill this book down to a word, I would say: frightening. Second choice: prescient.

Someone noted that I was carrying "Atlas Shrugged" with me in a waiting room recently. After confessing that he hadn't read it since college, I heartily recommended that he pick it up and dust it off for a fresh read.

Same to you.

Racial Profiling or just Good Police Work?

Yes, it's been a while...long story, many excuses...but suffice it to say, I am not always great at multi-tasking: I get on a task and obsess about it sometimes.

This post started as a response to a personal email expounding on the 'irony' of Bollywood superstar, Shah Rukh Khan (of Slumdog Millionaire) being detained upon entry into the U.S. (while they tried to identify him) -- in light of his coming here to do a film on racial profiling. I think it bears repeating in a more open forum, however, since it seems to be a common gripe about what little border security efforts we DO employ...

While you might want to jump on the 'racial profiling' bandwagon here, it might bear closer scrutiny from a cultural standpoint. While I am not very conversant in the culture of Mr. Khan (Heck, the president can say HE'S not familiar with the facts and still expound on things), I'll use some examples from other cultures to make my point:

1) Unlike Western culture (let go of that ethnocentrism for a moment here, folks), many cultures in the world still adhere to clan or tribal systems (witness the Somali or Hmong cultures, both of which are fairly populous in MN). In the Hmong culture in particular, there are a very limited number of last names (clans). This has the practical effect of making virtually everyone a "John Smith" or "Mike Jones".

2) Let's draw further from the current news ...August 12, 2009 an NIS News Bulletin:
Mohamed Most Popular Baby Name in Dutch Cities "THE HAGUE, 13/08/09 - Mohamed is by far the most popular name for babies in the Netherlands' four major cities. Additionally, many more boys are called Mohamed than the statistics suggest, Elsevier magazine reported yesterday..."The SVB data shows that in the four major cities - Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht - Mohamed (and the variations thereon like Mohammed and Muhammed) is by far the most frequently given name among boys. In The Hague, the various variants of the name of the Islamic Prophet even take first, second and fifth place in the Top 5. "http://www.nisnews.nl/public/130809_1.htm

3) This kind of statistic can be further complicated when you note that some cultures (Somali, for instance) give as many as 5 names to children. This 5-name custom doesn't fit well into the Western pattern of First, Middle, Last names. Therefore, even if someone is being HONEST, they may mix/match their names trying to answer an official who asks for only 3 of their names (most databases are set up in this pattern). If they are TRYING to obscure their identity, all they need to do is scramble up the order of those 5 names and pick them in no particular order. (For you non-math majors, that's 125 possible combinations.)

Given these facts and the enormous task of law enforcement/security forces to make snap identifications at checkpoints and airports, it can be no surprise when persons are detained to allow officials more time to make a better determination of who the person is that stands before them. Is it regrettable? Yes. Is it inconvenient? Yes. Is it unavoidable? Given the realities of the world in which we live, I believe it IS unavoidable.Is it racial profiling? Probably not, given the facts listed above. After all, if someone were travelling under the legally given name of, say, "Usama Bin Laden", wouldn't you prefer that officials err on the side of caution before giving him free passage?

The Race Card AGAIN? Really?

The article quoted below seems to demonstrate how quickly some people STILL deal the race card from the bottom of the deck. I have interjected some of my observations in [brackets] interspersed throughout.

http://www.policelink.com/news/articles/113782-obama-says-police-acted-stupidly-in-arrest?utm_source=nlet&utm_content=pl_r1_20090723_users

July 23, 2009

WASHINGTON, DC – President Barack Obama said Wednesday that police acted “stupidly” in the arrest of prominent black scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. and that despite racial progress blacks and Hispanics are still singled out unfairly for arrest.

“This still haunts us,” Obama said.

Obama called Gates a friend, and said he doesn’t know all the facts of the case. [ALWAYS A GOOD IDEA TO ADDRESS AN ISSUE YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT ON A NATIONAL STAGE. "I wasn't there, I don't know the facts, but here's my opinion..." Gee, sounds like those public opinion polls that we all love: "Do you believe the United States has the capability to intercept all emails?" Well, let me see...does it matter if I believe it or not -- even if I know nothing about the United States' capabilities? Apparently, no. I will, henceforth, try not to hold back from holding forth on things I know nothing about!] Nonetheless, Obama said, anyone would have been angry if treated the way Gates claims police in Cambridge, Mass., treated him. Gates, a Harvard University professor, claims he was arrested in his home after showing ID to police who responded to a report of a possible burglary.

“Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof he was in own home,” Obama said during a prime-time news conference that otherwise focused on the health care debate.

Gates’ arrest followed a report of a possible burglary. A woman apparently saw Gates force the front door and called police. Police came and demanded that Gates show identification. Gates was arrested shortly afterward for alleged disorderly conduct, a charge that was dropped Tuesday.

“What I think we know separate and apart from this incident is that there’s a long history in this country of African-Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately,” Obama said. “That’s just a fact.” [Disproportionately? Dare we say that many police stops are the result of 911 calls -- and that those stops are conducted on the basis of the suspect description given by the caller? Would it be more "fair" if, after the report of a burglar leaving the scene of a crime, that officers be more careful to stop a wide variety of persons -- even if they don't fit the description of the suspect -- just to 'even things out'?]

That disparity is a reminder that “race remains a factor in the society,” Obama said. [ I THOUGHT WE GOT OVER THIS WITH THE ELECTION LAST NOVEMBER…?!?! Race remains a factor only if you continue to mention it and use it as a bludgeon -- otherwise, can we just get on with the business at hand, please? You work hard, I work hard, and the chips fall where they may.]

The nation’s first black president held himself up as testament to what he called the “incredible progress” minorities have achieved. [AND NOW, MR. PRESIDENT, WHAT LOFTIER GOALS ARE LEFT TO ACHIEVE SO THAT WE CAN “BREAK THE CYCLE” OF RACISM?? Can we not finally acknowledge that your qualifications to do ANYTHING have no more to do with the color of your skin than the type of car you drive?]

The police sergeant accused of racism after he arrested Gates insisted Wednesday that he won’t apologize.

Police say Gates at first refused to display ID and then accused the officer of racism. [The racism here seems to be jumping to the immediate conclusion that you are being discriminated against because of racism -- and not being dealt with firmly for the outrageousness of your behavior and lack of civility. Everyone needs to step back and look at situations like this objectively -- there are consequences for behavior, bad or otherwise. We contribute nothing to the discussion if we continually blame others for the consequences that befall us at our own hands (or mouths).]

Hajj-podge

GOP seeks investigation of Ellison pilgrimage

http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/house/51433962.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUUs

Group That Funded Rep. Ellison's Pilgrimage to Mecca Called a Front for Extremism

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/01/08/rep-ellison-makes-pilgrimage-paid-group-critics-extremism/

It seems unlikely that anything Ellison could do would anger his constituency enough to oust him. After all, he represents Minnesota's 5th Congressional District - a Democratic stronghold that easily overlooked his past ties to the "Nation of Islam" -- ties he sought (unconvincingly) to distance himself from during the campaign. Ever the victim, he lamented the fact that questions around his campaign focused on his past instead of on the issues. Boo hoo.

Now we are asked to overlook his pilgrimage -- paid for by yet another dubious group with whom Ellison has associated himself (the Muslim American Society of MN) -- and, seemingly, flaunting Congressional rules about receiving/reporting gifts in doing so.

(Of the MAS, Steven Emerson of the Investigative Project on Terrorism has said it "was created actually as a front for the Muslim Brotherhood, which is a worldwide Islamic extremist organization that was started in 1920s...It has actually had some of its staffers convicted of terrorism, including Ismail Royer , convicted of waging war against the United States.") http://www.investigativeproject.org/382/muslim-american-society-american-friend-or-foe

Prediction: Another typhoon in a teapot -- Democratic colleagues and supporters will continue to paint Ellison as a voice of moderation and any Congressional action would likely amount to a figurative slap on the wrist (after all, our President has his own dubious associations, does he not?). Further anecdotal proof that you don't need a good excuse -- you just need the right cloud of apologists.

Let he who is without sin cast the first stone -- oh, sorry, mixing my extremist metaphors again...

For further reading on MAS, see: http://www.investigativeproject.org/472/introducing-the-muslim-american-society

Living at the Edge of Catastrophe

Newt Gingrich – We Are Living

At The Edge Of Catastrophe

On Monday, former Speaker Gingrich made an important speech about the nature of the threat we are living under -- good to remind ourselves of during these days of distraction: health care "reform", Cap and Tax, Bailout 2.0, etc. None of these issues will mean anything if the United States fails to defend itself from those who would destroy it -- whether from within or without.

As Abraham Lincoln said, "If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and
finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide."

We would do well to remember that suicide is not always an overt action -- it can also be the lack thereof.

Semper fi

TGIF -- sit back and watch...Crowder takes on Canadian health care.

(20 minutes folks, so head calls are in order) Watch carefully -- this could be us soon.

Safety net?

First, a little addendum to the last post (a post-post script?):

http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article.aspx?id=482329

Hmmm...it seems that purchasing private insurance may NOT be allowed under the proposed healthcare bill. (Surprise, surprise -- buried gems in the 1000+ pages our elected representatives will likely be voting on -- but probably not reading -- very soon.) Software programmers call these 'Easter Eggs' (Or, perhaps in this case, better dubbed 'Donkey Droppings'?) -- hidden tricks and novelty items that you have to go looking for (or possibly stumble across by accident), buried within programs. What a clever touch.

Thank goodness the nanny-state safety net will be there to save us from those greedy insurers!

http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=51162

Enter Joltin' Joe Biden to clarify things...“Now, people when I say that look at me and say, ‘What are you talking about, Joe? You’re telling me we have to go spend money to keep from going bankrupt?’” Biden said. “The answer is yes, that's what I’m telling you.”

Well, if that line of reasoning is correct, at the rate we're spending, we're going to be rich!! (Vegas, anyone?)

Even the director of the CBO (that's Congressional Budget Office, if you're reading this in Anoka -- or France) warns that the current federal budget is "unsustainable". And as our current population bubble (aka the Baby Boomers) ages and leaves the work force, there will be a shrinking work force to shoulder the burden of the debt we are creating today. Our children -- and our children's children will stagger under the weight of it.

Beware. When Congress and the Administration become hell-bent on rushing 1000+ page bills to a vote (transparency? what?) without so much as allowing ANYONE the chance to READ those bills or even contemplate/debate the most economical ways of funding their lunacy -- a little voice in your head should be screaming until your teeth rattle. Tea Party, anyone?

Question of the day:

Which one makes YOU feel safer?

1)The Nanny-state safety net

2)The People's Republic of China purchasing our ever-growing debt

It's getting harder to tell the difference...

"The spread of evil is the symptom of a vacuum. Whenever evil wins, it is only by default: by the moral failure of those who evade the fact that there can be no compromise on basic principles."('Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal' 1966)

The new Health Care Plan ... simplified

http://docs.house.gov/gopleader/House-Democrats-Health-Plan.pdf

Now that I've taken a close look at this, it makes perfect sense, don't you agree? Ha!

What would possess anyone to believe that government (ours -- or anyone's) can provide health care at a level equal to/surpassing the level of care that is provided by the American private sector? Anyone? (crickets chirping)

Witness the myriad stories around the internet documenting the ineptitudes of Canadian, British, or [insert name of country here] government sponsored health care -- and the governments' cost saving measures (e.g., delays for diagnosis/treatment that virtually guarantee the death of seriously ill patients before they can obtain so much as an appointment. Cost savings, right?). Do we really want bureaucrats deciding who gets treatment -- and on what timetable? Wouldn't you prefer a DOCTOR to make those recommendations?

It is an absurdity to blindly push forward and propose that WE can do it right when citizens of those other countries further along the socialized medicine curve are sounding a clarion warning to those who would follow (i.e., us -- U.S.)? (Granted, they probably have a selfish motive in wanting to preserve their last best hope - American medicine. How un-enlightened of them.)

Did any of those other countries introduce socialized medicine with the promise "we'll choose who gets treatment and who doesn't" or "the US is nice this time of year...take a vacation and get the treatment you require along the way"? No, their citizens likely signed on for a trip to Pleasure Island with the clear-eyed innocence of Pinocchio -- only to find that, in the end, they are now sprouting donkey-ears.

This is a gamble we can't win -- let your elected representatives and senators know that America can't afford the bill for such an undertaking, nor can we afford the cost to humanity in losing the shining beacon of American ingenuity and advancement in medicine that would surely follow.

Sign the petition below and pass it on -- for yourself, for your family.

http://www.freeourhealthcarenow.com/form.php

Be Strong. Stay Safe. Semper Fi.

"Who is John Galt?" Ayn Rand, 1957

Tears for[sic] a clown

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jul/14/a-clown-for-all-seasons-arrives-just-in-time/

Minnesota may never live down the election of this 'clown' -- I use that term advisedly, as I haven't considered Franken funny for many years (if ever). Like other well known funny-men of leftist leanings (can you say Garrison Keillor or Bill Maher?) , Franken has descended into a spiral of angry political vitriol (and in his own twist to the comic denouement, physical outbursts) and spittle. His topics span a wide spectrum from the pornographic to the mocking (of Christians, of course - a popular scapegoat in the current 'civil' discourse of the left).

The only reason one might watch or listen to one of his rants is that irrational, hypnotic effect of watching a train wreck -- you're afraid to look away for fear you will miss the big 'crash'.

Well, Minnesota has further cemented its political schizophrenia by creating a vote tally close enough to be fudged ("How many votes do you need, Al? We can deliver!"*) -- and, in so doing, forcing the rest of the nation to watch OUR train wreck.

*Yes, We Can!

Alas, we get the government we deserve, don't we?