Washington's Wake

Archive for the ‘Commentary’ Category

So I read this article this morning:

SALT LAKE CITY — The 14 crosses erected along Utah roads to commemorate fallen state Highway Patrol troopers convey a state preference for Christianity and are a violation of the U.S. Constitution, a federal appeals court said Wednesday. The ruling reverses a 2007 decision by a federal district judge that said the crosses communicate a secular message about deaths and were not a public endorsement of religion. It’s the latest in a recent rash of mixed-bag rulings on the public use of crosses. [Source: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/08/18/federal-appeals-court-rules-utah-memorial-crosses-highway/?test=latestnews ]

I can not get over the stupidity of this court ruling. Regardless whether this display of religion or not, it shouldn’t matter at all. 14 officers are dead. People wish to memorialize them. People in this country used to have the freedom to practice religion in public. This is not a government endorsement of any particular relgion.

This is really an outrage and an infringement on the religious rights of those citizens trying to do something nice and kind and decent.

Somedays, I just hate the courts.

Here’s the thing, there is no logic in this ruling today. Obviously it should be illegal to lie about military service and honors. Only an irrational moron would think otherwise. If we can lie about this on our resume, why can’ twe just lie about everything on our resume? There’s just no logic at all, but that’s growing more and more typical of US case law. Logic is irrelevant, consistency unimportant, and that’s how it is.

I often rail about this because it explains WHY our society is melting down, why partisanship and polarization is occuring. Society is based on the assumption that a reasonable person can intuit the law – thus we can say, straight faced that ignorance if the law is no defense. Once a reasonable person can no longer even guess, never mind know for certain, what the law is and how it might be applied, then opinion and interpretation starts to diverge from reality. Resentment builds, elites become rulers because their opinion and interpretations become the ones that matter.

Sects split based on ideological interpretation of law, and every election becomes at once an offensive against the legal infidel and a defense against persecution and prosecution. Look at the news today, Pelosi wants to investigate Mosque critics… yes it is audacious, but it is a logical result of the US code.

With, literally, millions of pages of law and regulation there is no conceivable way that a reasonable person can have any idea what the law means. Not too long ago there was an article somewhere that the average American commits 3 felonies a day without even knowing it.

This isn’t just about fixing tax-code, getting rid of obamaCare, or getting our fiscal house in order. Those might help to some degree, but as long as we are slaves to the law, all the rest of the liberties we think we’re fighting for, whether they’re 1st Amendment, the extent of the commerce clause, or the meaning of the general welfare clause is completley irrelevant.

“”The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions, that I wish it to be always kept alive. It will often be exercised when wrong, but better so than not to be exercised at all. I like a little rebellion now and then.” – Thomas Jefferson

I find it funny how the left and the right are both formenting revolution. Perhaps this is the sign of goodness that will save us from bloodshed. God, I hope so.

Has anyone else been watching skiddishly as China ramps up with a new anti-US focus? This new power is an immediate threat to US interests and sovereignty. It’s interesting how we’re too weak to stand up and say anything. (By interesting, I mean horrifying and terrifying and pathetic.)

Even when we’re directly provoked we do nothing and say nothing. We barely ring our hands. Maybe it doesn’t matter. Maybe it’s really a moot point. BUT, is that all that’s left ot America? A shrug?

I think it is time to either bomb or leave. There is no point in risking our soldiers if we’ve given up any chance to change that region. Clearly, we’re conceding it to Iran. If that’s the case, then we need to get out of there before another life is lost.

Oh Oh Obama, thy name rings in shame
the numbers on our retail hath been far too tame

Damn the torpedos, dive Dow Jones dive!
The tax man cometh far too soon, can profits long survive?

Oh Oh Obama, thy purpose seems quite clear
the people rumble quiet now, but unrest seems quite near!

Live! Live! Live free, my friends, live free or die!
There is no party for the common man, so let freedom be thy cry!

Oh Oh Obama, the whites of thine eyes are in view,
the vote is coming soon, then cruel fate will come for you.

Damn the torpedos of foolish pride, dive dive dive!
America, she’s angry now, did you think her spirit not alive?

Oh Oh Obama, self-evident truths we sing
as we pursue our happiness, and let dear freedom ring!

The electoral college protects the interests of the lower population density areas and states. Voters in North Dakota, Alaska, and even Rhode Island. Citified liberals realize that by ridding themselves of the Electoral College they can control the presidential election by banding together with other cities. candidates would no longer need to pay any attention to small states and could focus all their money in the city areas where all the votes are. This is a disaster for all of us and an absolute travesty against the founders vision.

I admit it, I have actually looked into giving up my citizenship. I have thought about it in a serious way. At this point, I’ve decided against it, but I did think about it and that is something that shocks and saddens me.

If any of the folks on Wall Street had brains (and perhaps testicles) they’d be pulling out of the markets as quickly as possible. It seems to me that the value of every single company and piece of property in this country is over-valued by a factor of 10.

Now, I realize I’m no one. I get it. There is no reason to listen to a word I say, and frankly, I hope they ignore me, even if I’m not wrong. It doesn’t serve anyone to have a monsterous crash. However, as the government has stepped in with the iron fist of the Obama Gestapo and the Secret Pelosi Police (ok, ok, that is hyperbole) fully 40% of the economy (at minimum) is run by the government.

This government is reporting debt that is substantially below the reality, due in part to the type of accounting used and the creative ways legislators and government agencies pretend everything is alright.

Ok, those might seem like unrelated things, but consider that industries that were once making profits will now be run by the same people that are lying about their revenues, expenses and putting out bogus reports. Nearly one half of the economy is going to be devestated, if only in that it will no longer generate wealth and revenue. The multiplier effect of this cuts across all parts of the economy and devalues all stocks and all property values.

If I owned a company right now, I would be doing ANYTHING to get out. My advice to myself: Liquify and flee this market – it is completely illusory.

I know, I know, I am insane, but for the love of GOD, why can’t NASA get back to its core mission? Why can’t we send out probes on a daily basis? Why is NASA not launching stuff and sending it out into the galaxy as quickly and as often as possible? ANYONE?

Even if we sent out a probe every day for a decade, we would be  barely scratching the surface. So why the hell aren’t we doing it?

Imagine if instead of 2 little voyager probes we had 3000 of them all sending back data, each with progressively better equipment. Every one, every day, getting improved upon. Basically, for 3-4 Billion dollars a year, $50M per launch + the cost of the probe.

Additional Benefit, as they were scootching out in every direction, they could also be mapping asteroids and comets and such. Not that the threat of extinction is a good reason to explore or anything.