ELIZABETH WARREN:
... calling out the Democrats who voted to deregulate Wall Street.
... has the momentum, seemingly winning debate after debate.
... is absolutely right on justice reform.
... is going after the 0.1% hoards of wealth.
... "I don’t understand why anybody goes to all the trouble of running for president of the United States just to talk about what we really can’t do and shouldn’t fight for."
BERNIE SANDERS:
... brushing up on his foreign policy chops.
... made the mistake of going on s Fox News town hall... and still emerged triumphant.
PETE BUTTIGIEG:
... has a tin ear when it comes to the demands of Black Lives Matter.
... has gone from being young and friendly to being white and angry.
ANDREW YANG:
... vote for him because Trump's fat...? I guess?
BETO O'ROURKE:
... got an endorsement from a Congresswoman who thought Nancy "Big Donors Call the Shots" Pelosi was too far to the left. And also a few other blue dog Dems. Which is interesting, because as his recent call for banning and confiscating assault rifles shows, he's not nearly as much of a centrist as he makes out.
... is still not liberal enough for a lot of Texans who worked for him in 2018.
JOE BIDEN:
... falls well short on climate change policy.
... preaches the merits of compromise and bipartisanship, despite the blatantly obvious.
... seriously, the completely fucking obvious.
... so obvious there are people who think Biden is only playing dumb.
... has ex-Republicans like David Brooks rooting for him.
... keeps finding new ways to shoot himself in the foot.
... cries crocodile tears for how he treated Anita Hill when presiding over Clarence Thomas's Supreme Court hearings.
... is still the leading choice of black Democratic primary voters, despite having built his entire career on anti-black policies.
... has a pair of Billy Carters, his brother and his son, who have traded on Joe's political career (incompetently) their whole lives, and whose wheeling and dealing are just waiting to embarrass him in the general election.
And, finally:
BILL AND HILLARY CLINTON:
... need to just go away.
Showing posts with label Guns. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Guns. Show all posts
Sunday, October 20, 2019
Saturday, October 5, 2019
Link Bundle: Things Trump Has Been Doing
... when he's not extorting money and election favors from other countries, that is.
He's also arranging sweetheart deals with foreign countries for businessmen who are members of his resorts.
He's trying to cover up or deny his scheme to pay off and silence his mistresses.
He's pocketing millions in cash when Republicans hold events at his hotels and resorts, even when the rooms aren't actually slept in by anybody.
He's embarrassing America on his trips abroad.
He's blocking members of the International Criminal Court from entering the US and freezing their assets here.
His tax cuts are lining his pockets (and those of other billionaires) while utterly failing to create jobs.
And while he's helping billionaires get richer, he's looking for new ways to make the poor poorer.
In fact, he's considering creating concentration camps for the homeless.
He's looting other programs (including support for our soldiers) and violating the Constitution and the express will of Congress in order to fund a wall that won't work.
He's blocking data collection on climate change.
He's protecting carcinogenic, nerve-damaging pesticides which almost all other civilized countries have banned.
He's helping protect violent white supremacists by blaming mass shootings on the political left.
He uses workers as political props.
He runs the White House like a mafia family don.
And, just as a reminder, he successfully obstructed justice by suborning perjury and withholding of evidence and interfering in the Mueller investigation. And although proving it in court will be almost impossible, it's all but certain he made himself a pawn of Russian intelligence.
And he's willing to do absolutely anything- even destroy the American republic- to avoid the consequences.
In this struggle, he will have the total support of most elected Republicans... and virtually all Republican voters.
He's also arranging sweetheart deals with foreign countries for businessmen who are members of his resorts.
He's trying to cover up or deny his scheme to pay off and silence his mistresses.
He's pocketing millions in cash when Republicans hold events at his hotels and resorts, even when the rooms aren't actually slept in by anybody.
He's embarrassing America on his trips abroad.
He's blocking members of the International Criminal Court from entering the US and freezing their assets here.
His tax cuts are lining his pockets (and those of other billionaires) while utterly failing to create jobs.
And while he's helping billionaires get richer, he's looking for new ways to make the poor poorer.
In fact, he's considering creating concentration camps for the homeless.
He's looting other programs (including support for our soldiers) and violating the Constitution and the express will of Congress in order to fund a wall that won't work.
He's blocking data collection on climate change.
He's protecting carcinogenic, nerve-damaging pesticides which almost all other civilized countries have banned.
He's helping protect violent white supremacists by blaming mass shootings on the political left.
He uses workers as political props.
He runs the White House like a mafia family don.
And, just as a reminder, he successfully obstructed justice by suborning perjury and withholding of evidence and interfering in the Mueller investigation. And although proving it in court will be almost impossible, it's all but certain he made himself a pawn of Russian intelligence.
And he's willing to do absolutely anything- even destroy the American republic- to avoid the consequences.
In this struggle, he will have the total support of most elected Republicans... and virtually all Republican voters.
Thursday, September 6, 2018
Link Bundle 8
Reminder: it's not just Trump who wants to silence all dissent.
Meanwhile, the people who want to stifle dissent quite happily lie to you about the media.
Reminder: our new CIA director is guilty of war crimes.
A gun in public is a threat. Nothing less.
Here's the inside story from the man who helped Steve Bannon weaponize Facebook.
Conservatives cannot endure even peaceful protests, as witness the steps a public school took to quash a student anti-gun protest.
If you want the freedom of speech to call for ethnic cleansing, we demand the freedom to call you out for the evil fascist asshole you are.
Reminder: Trump's foreign policy is completely incoherent. Those "resistors" in his Cabinet must be so proud.
Reminder: the old billionaires who claim to advocate freedom want to control higher education.
And this is the kind of rape-defender scum they're funding.
In my home state it is a legal defense to a murder rap to claim that your victim made a sexual advance on you.
Enough for now, I hope...
Meanwhile, the people who want to stifle dissent quite happily lie to you about the media.
Reminder: our new CIA director is guilty of war crimes.
A gun in public is a threat. Nothing less.
Here's the inside story from the man who helped Steve Bannon weaponize Facebook.
Conservatives cannot endure even peaceful protests, as witness the steps a public school took to quash a student anti-gun protest.
If you want the freedom of speech to call for ethnic cleansing, we demand the freedom to call you out for the evil fascist asshole you are.
Reminder: Trump's foreign policy is completely incoherent. Those "resistors" in his Cabinet must be so proud.
Reminder: the old billionaires who claim to advocate freedom want to control higher education.
And this is the kind of rape-defender scum they're funding.
In my home state it is a legal defense to a murder rap to claim that your victim made a sexual advance on you.
Enough for now, I hope...
Wednesday, June 20, 2018
Link Bundle #7
Hadn't done one of these for a while after a computer crash wiped out all my old tabs, but the browser's getting overfull again. So...
The ICE is inherently corrupt, part n+1.
CHP is spelled KKK.
And they have good friends, if not members, in the White County, TN sheriff's department.
And certain Alabama sheriffs may or may not be working with the alt-right, but they're deliberately looting the funds appropriated for their prisoners so they can get rich.
Trump wants the poor to eat less healthy. Which is a problem, because the poor generally are too poor to eat anything but cheap junk anyway- especially since food is the one pleasure they're still allowed.
White supremacists are recruiting openly, and nobody seems to be able to counter it effectively. Part of this is an attempt to indoctrinate young people into the cause, but more of it is a simple attack against the very idea of higher education.
In fact, the alt-right is so petty that they attacked a trio of black women science students in an attempt to get them thrown out of a NASA contest.
This is the kind of people Trump brings to Washington: an EPA "science advisor" who thinks pollution is GOOD for you. A financial industry watchdog who thinks 950% interest is perfectly fine, but students getting back fraudulently spent loan money is wasteful. A cabinet secretary who demotes and fires underlings for not being willing to spend enough taxpayer money on the secretary's personal luxury. A person in charge of the Bureau of Indian Affairs who harrassed women and native Americans in the employ of the government. A son in law so openly on the take it's ridiculous. And, of course, the president himself, who uses his 2020 re-election campaign as a personal revenue source and who sends goons to steal medical records from his doctor in broad daylight..
A reminder that five months ago, Trump and his loyal Republican ass-kissers were doing everything in their power to undermine good government, defend their leader, and protect Russia.
A worthy read about how the NRA became a vehicle of big business to turn Americans away from government and civic involvement... and against each other.
Our Revolution, the organization created by Bernie Sanders, endorsed Dennis Kucinich for US Senate in Ohio. It's not the first time they've endorsed an obvious crackpot (who thankfully lost)- or gone against Sanders's express wishes. It appears "Our Revolution" is not going to be a force for good, which makes me wonder who's really in charge of it anymore. It certainly isn't Sanders.
Oh, and remember the tax cuts Republicans enact which were going to lead to new jobs and investment? Nope! They're going straight into the pockets of the wealthy and staying there. Of course, when the biggest beneficiaries of the tax cuts are those who needed it the least, that's how it was designed to work in the first place, lies about new jobs notwithstanding.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Party did its best to surrender unconditionally on guns when confronted with yet another mass murder. They endorsed (and boosted to the nomination) a white male anti-abortion, anti-gay, pro-gun candidate over a liberal black woman.
Fun times. Still plenty of tabs, but that'll do it for now.
The ICE is inherently corrupt, part n+1.
CHP is spelled KKK.
And they have good friends, if not members, in the White County, TN sheriff's department.
And certain Alabama sheriffs may or may not be working with the alt-right, but they're deliberately looting the funds appropriated for their prisoners so they can get rich.
Trump wants the poor to eat less healthy. Which is a problem, because the poor generally are too poor to eat anything but cheap junk anyway- especially since food is the one pleasure they're still allowed.
White supremacists are recruiting openly, and nobody seems to be able to counter it effectively. Part of this is an attempt to indoctrinate young people into the cause, but more of it is a simple attack against the very idea of higher education.
In fact, the alt-right is so petty that they attacked a trio of black women science students in an attempt to get them thrown out of a NASA contest.
This is the kind of people Trump brings to Washington: an EPA "science advisor" who thinks pollution is GOOD for you. A financial industry watchdog who thinks 950% interest is perfectly fine, but students getting back fraudulently spent loan money is wasteful. A cabinet secretary who demotes and fires underlings for not being willing to spend enough taxpayer money on the secretary's personal luxury. A person in charge of the Bureau of Indian Affairs who harrassed women and native Americans in the employ of the government. A son in law so openly on the take it's ridiculous. And, of course, the president himself, who uses his 2020 re-election campaign as a personal revenue source and who sends goons to steal medical records from his doctor in broad daylight..
A reminder that five months ago, Trump and his loyal Republican ass-kissers were doing everything in their power to undermine good government, defend their leader, and protect Russia.
A worthy read about how the NRA became a vehicle of big business to turn Americans away from government and civic involvement... and against each other.
Our Revolution, the organization created by Bernie Sanders, endorsed Dennis Kucinich for US Senate in Ohio. It's not the first time they've endorsed an obvious crackpot (who thankfully lost)- or gone against Sanders's express wishes. It appears "Our Revolution" is not going to be a force for good, which makes me wonder who's really in charge of it anymore. It certainly isn't Sanders.
Oh, and remember the tax cuts Republicans enact which were going to lead to new jobs and investment? Nope! They're going straight into the pockets of the wealthy and staying there. Of course, when the biggest beneficiaries of the tax cuts are those who needed it the least, that's how it was designed to work in the first place, lies about new jobs notwithstanding.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Party did its best to surrender unconditionally on guns when confronted with yet another mass murder. They endorsed (and boosted to the nomination) a white male anti-abortion, anti-gay, pro-gun candidate over a liberal black woman.
Fun times. Still plenty of tabs, but that'll do it for now.
Monday, August 28, 2017
Mass Link Bundle #2
Not getting better using this. Let's see how many tabs I clear from my browser this time, beginning with the oldest.
In the south, and especially in Harris County, if you have no money, you have no justice.
The next time a Republican tells you that conservatives support equal rights for women, tell him about this. Or tell him he's full of shit. Both are true. (By the way, this story is from 2015, but Strickland still holds office.)
If you live someplace in Texas with a homeowner's association, or with a deed restriction, you may find out the hard way that you don't own your home at all- and that you have no legal rights worth respecting to try to keep it. HOAs in Texas are insanely powerful- and unaccountable.
Thanks, Bill and Hillary Clinton. Some of us remember.
Cutting taxes only boosts wealth for the rich. It doesn't make the economy stronger. Also, water tends to be slightly damp.
Remember, hard work does NOT equal success. If your boss can get away with paying you less than you're worth, he WILL- and he'll pat himself on the back for doing it.
The next time a conservative says, "You socialists just want stuff for free! I paid for mine!", point out that they could be getting what they're paying for for a LOT cheaper- by socializing it. That's how Scandinavia does it.
Responsible (white) gun owner pulls gun on black man because he's scared of black people.
Three victims of the CIA's torture program sued the doctors who designed the torture methods. And they won.This is the first, and so far only, victory for those seeking justice for the Bush administration's crimes.
(Paywall) Kansas gutted taxes; California hiked them sky-high. Now Kansas is sinking economically while California is soaring.
An excellent argument, with studies cited, against universal gun ownership, but my favorite bit is the simple response to the insane notion that the Second Amendment preserves the right to armed resistance against our elected government.
The Atlanta Braves got a special law passed for their new Cobb County stadium to give them a monopoly on expensive parking spaces- with no public transit option- all in the name of "safety." Riiiiight.
That's all Blogger will let me do for now...
In the south, and especially in Harris County, if you have no money, you have no justice.
The next time a Republican tells you that conservatives support equal rights for women, tell him about this. Or tell him he's full of shit. Both are true. (By the way, this story is from 2015, but Strickland still holds office.)
If you live someplace in Texas with a homeowner's association, or with a deed restriction, you may find out the hard way that you don't own your home at all- and that you have no legal rights worth respecting to try to keep it. HOAs in Texas are insanely powerful- and unaccountable.
Thanks, Bill and Hillary Clinton. Some of us remember.
Cutting taxes only boosts wealth for the rich. It doesn't make the economy stronger. Also, water tends to be slightly damp.
Remember, hard work does NOT equal success. If your boss can get away with paying you less than you're worth, he WILL- and he'll pat himself on the back for doing it.
The next time a conservative says, "You socialists just want stuff for free! I paid for mine!", point out that they could be getting what they're paying for for a LOT cheaper- by socializing it. That's how Scandinavia does it.
Responsible (white) gun owner pulls gun on black man because he's scared of black people.
Three victims of the CIA's torture program sued the doctors who designed the torture methods. And they won.This is the first, and so far only, victory for those seeking justice for the Bush administration's crimes.
(Paywall) Kansas gutted taxes; California hiked them sky-high. Now Kansas is sinking economically while California is soaring.
An excellent argument, with studies cited, against universal gun ownership, but my favorite bit is the simple response to the insane notion that the Second Amendment preserves the right to armed resistance against our elected government.
The Atlanta Braves got a special law passed for their new Cobb County stadium to give them a monopoly on expensive parking spaces- with no public transit option- all in the name of "safety." Riiiiight.
That's all Blogger will let me do for now...
Thursday, May 9, 2013
I Hear Somebody Whistling Dixie... Seriously
I told someone- maybe it was you who read- that I fear an attempt at armed revolt sometime in my lifetime, and that not far off. When it comes I believe the government will win, but in the process most of our remaining liberties will be destroyed forever, or at least for the remainder of my lifetime. Those liberties will include privacy, free speech, free assembly, protection against unwarranted search and seizure, and the right to refuse to testify against oneself.
I do NOT believe the armed revolt will be justified. It will be led by demagogues who seek to retain certain privileges, such as the supremacy of their religion, their race, and their social and economic class. It will be fought by people who hate the very idea of government and who think they will prosper once namby-pamby regulations and laws are abolished once and for all. And it will kill hundreds of thousands of people who wanted nothing more than to be let alone by both sides to improve their own lot as much as they can.
Those of you who scoff and say, "Oh, that Overstreet, he's just a radical- pay him no mind," please read the following stories and tell me how delusional you really think I am...
29% of Americans Think Armed Rebellion Might Soon Be Necessary
Thousands of Paranoid Libertarian Gun Nuts Planning to March on D.C. With Loaded Weapons
Texas House Approves 12 Firearms Bills To Put More Guns In Classrooms And Defy Federal Law
South Carolina House passes nullification bill to make Obamacare a crime
Tea Party-Type Militia Leader’s Domestic Terror Plot Thwarted by Authorities
Civil war is coming, folks. And conservatives will be the ones pushing the bayonet into YOUR back, forcing you up against the guns of YOUR government.
I do NOT believe the armed revolt will be justified. It will be led by demagogues who seek to retain certain privileges, such as the supremacy of their religion, their race, and their social and economic class. It will be fought by people who hate the very idea of government and who think they will prosper once namby-pamby regulations and laws are abolished once and for all. And it will kill hundreds of thousands of people who wanted nothing more than to be let alone by both sides to improve their own lot as much as they can.
Those of you who scoff and say, "Oh, that Overstreet, he's just a radical- pay him no mind," please read the following stories and tell me how delusional you really think I am...
29% of Americans Think Armed Rebellion Might Soon Be Necessary
Thousands of Paranoid Libertarian Gun Nuts Planning to March on D.C. With Loaded Weapons
Texas House Approves 12 Firearms Bills To Put More Guns In Classrooms And Defy Federal Law
South Carolina House passes nullification bill to make Obamacare a crime
Tea Party-Type Militia Leader’s Domestic Terror Plot Thwarted by Authorities
Civil war is coming, folks. And conservatives will be the ones pushing the bayonet into YOUR back, forcing you up against the guns of YOUR government.
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Republicans... Rule, or Ruin
The evil of the Republican Party goes forward.
States with bills in the legislature to prohibit enforcement of federal gun laws and regulation- and to imprison federal agents who attempt to enforce those laws: Utah, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas (thus far).
States with bills in the legislature to change electoral vote distribution from winner-take-all to by Congressional district, with the result that in 2012 Romney would have won more electoral votes in all these states than Obama: Virginia, Michigan, Pennsylvania. North Carolina, Florida, Wisconsin and Ohio Republicans are also considering this legislation. (If you don't understand why this is an evil, low-down scheme to rig elections, Ta-Nehisi Coates has the explanation, with historical context.)
Florida, which currently has exonerated one-third as many people as they have executed since the death penalty was re-instated, has decided the solution is... to give the wrongfully convicted less time to prove it before they die.
And finally, Republicans in New Mexico have introduced a bill that would require women, if they were raped and impregnated by their rapist, to carry the embryo to term or else be prosecuted for the felony of destruction of evidence.
None of this is legitimate political disagreement. All of this is a determination that either Republicans shall control the nation/state/county/city/womb... or else there will be nothing left to control. What Republicans cannot rule or profit from, they destroy.
States with bills in the legislature to prohibit enforcement of federal gun laws and regulation- and to imprison federal agents who attempt to enforce those laws: Utah, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas (thus far).
States with bills in the legislature to change electoral vote distribution from winner-take-all to by Congressional district, with the result that in 2012 Romney would have won more electoral votes in all these states than Obama: Virginia, Michigan, Pennsylvania. North Carolina, Florida, Wisconsin and Ohio Republicans are also considering this legislation. (If you don't understand why this is an evil, low-down scheme to rig elections, Ta-Nehisi Coates has the explanation, with historical context.)
Florida, which currently has exonerated one-third as many people as they have executed since the death penalty was re-instated, has decided the solution is... to give the wrongfully convicted less time to prove it before they die.
And finally, Republicans in New Mexico have introduced a bill that would require women, if they were raped and impregnated by their rapist, to carry the embryo to term or else be prosecuted for the felony of destruction of evidence.
None of this is legitimate political disagreement. All of this is a determination that either Republicans shall control the nation/state/county/city/womb... or else there will be nothing left to control. What Republicans cannot rule or profit from, they destroy.
Sunday, January 20, 2013
The "Red Dawn" Psychosis
I remember the early days of the militia movement in the late 1980s and early 1990s- or, rather, I remember the popular response to media coverage of the militias. Here, we were told, were people scared to death of everyone else, people who sought to overthrow any government they didn't approve of, no matter how many people did approve. These people gathered insane arsenals in their homes, usually ill-constructed shacks out in the wilderness, and engaged in standoffs and shoot-outs with federal authorities.
And everyone I knew, liberal and conservative alike, thought they were insane, dangerous, and un-American.
Today the militia movement, in its guise as the Tea Party, have taken over American conservatism. When Obama proposed simple, common-sense measures to regulate certain kinds of guns and their sale, the reaction of mainstream conservatism was universal: rush to the gun store to buy more guns, build up an arsenal, and prepare for the all-too-necessary overthrow of the elected government of the United States.
Think I'm joking? Think I'm exaggerating?
"I think they're gonna wait to see what Obama does, and I've talked with other of my colleagues on what's going on, and there's a general consensus that if he steps over that line that something has to be done. He feels like he's Abraham Lincoln, you know, we're not at civil war," Stockman said. "The line is when you cross from administrating executive orders which deal with his office and pass legislation through executive orders."
That's my Congressman who said that. (I didn't vote for him.)
"...they [guns] are used to defend human life. They are used to defend our property and our families and our faith and our freedom, and they are absolutely essential to living the way God intended for us to live.”
That's a California state elected legislator.
And meantime, in response to Obama's call for a ban on high-capacity magazines and high-power automatic or semi-automatic assault rifles, legislators and governors in at least eight states, including Mississippi, are pushing for laws to nullify federal regulations- even to the point, in some cases, of threatening to imprison any federal agent who seeks to enforce those laws.
And in the meantime a gun manufacturer is proposing a fortress community in which everyone will be required to own and carry an AR-15 military assault rifle, Glenn Beck is pushing forward with his version of Galt Gulch, and at least one Congressman has proposed abolishing all gun regulation altogether. Meanwhile, we had a "Gun Appreciation Day" organized and sponsored by white supremacists, while Matt Drudge, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and their ilk compare Obama to Hitler- "Hitler loved gun control!" (In reality, Hitler inherited a gun ban from the democratic Weimar government and DEREGULATED gun laws- but only for Nazis.)
With this kind of leadership, is it any wonder I'm constantly seeing, in comments on news articles and replies on Twitter, various people pointing out that they need guns to defend themselves from our tyrannical government in Washington?
I was going to offer you some quotes from a Twitter user who responded to Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo, making just that point- and adding that, unlike Shays' Rebellion, the Whiskey Rebellion, and other examples, this time eighty million American gun owners would be on his side. I can tell you my responses, though:
Me: "First, Mr. (name), thanks for admitting you favor the armed overthrow of the United States... Second, subtract THIS particular gun owner from your revolutionary roster. I'm no traitor."
Him: "Not the United States, only our current tyrannical government."
Me: "This government which just happens to be elected by the people?"
It's absolute madness, but what can you do? When someone's in such a paranoid mental state, persuasion simply isn't going to work. The best you can do is publicly rebuke the insanity to discourage others from joining it.
And it most certainly is madness. Consider the obvious point first: even if you have unfettered access to assault rifles and massive amounts of ammo, there are simple financial limits to your ability to build an arsenal. You are not going to be able to buy, arm and fly your own F-23, for example. There may be thousands of surplus Abrams main line battle tanks sitting in Arizona unused, but you're never going to have the dough to lay your hands on a disarmed one, much less one that's fully operational. Most of all, you're not going to have 400,000 buddies fully organized and coordinated with satellite observation, command and control electronic communications, years and years of combat training and experience, and a single common purpose. Standoffs against the government of the United States never end in anything but victory for the US government, and to believe otherwise is insanity defined.
But what if you could? What if the armed might of the federal government simply stood aside and said, "All right- let's allow you people with political disputes to settle them with bullets. Have fun. We won't get involved at all." What kind of country would we have then?
What kind of freedom would we have, in a nation where every man feared every other? What kind of freedom of speech, when any dissenting viewpoint might lead to a hail of bullets? What kind of community could we build, when no one trusts anyone who is different in any way? When all government is to be hated, feared, and overthrown, how are laws to be made and upheld? How can contracts be entered into freely, without fear of coercion? How can justice be even-handed when the muzzle of a gun rests at the back of the judge's skull?
Yet this is exactly the kind of freedom today's conservatives insist upon- the freedom to be exactly like everyone else, or else be Other. To conform, or to be suspect. To be in, and all the way in, or else to be all the way out.
Such a state of affairs is, of course, part of our heritage. The situation I just described is how most of the South operated since before the American Revolution. Each man or woman belonged to a group. If they stepped outside their group, or into an area their group was not permitted, they were slapped down hard- often fatally, and as often without as with the sanction of law. Everyone agreed to smile and pretend and lie to themselves, but in reality everyone hated and feared everyone who wasn't part of their particular tiny group.
This is why, both during and after slavery, the South has been, and remains, the most un-free part of the United States, with the exception of Mormon Utah- and this only because the early Mormon Church took paranoia and fear to new heights. This is why the current Southern domination of the Republican Party has been disastrous for our country for the last twenty-five years (at least).
And, because they seek a time that was happy for them because they were the strongest and most privileged group of all those mutually hated groups, the rich and powerful men who control conservative thought in the United States- men like Limbaugh, Roger Ailes, and the like- these men seek to return us to those days, when freedom was only a word.
I do not want to live in a society based first, last, and always upon fear and paranoia. I want a society based on trust and empathy- and conservative thought, as it currently stands, can't even conceive of either trait.
Monday, April 19, 2010
It's not a threat- it's a WARNING.
So, today being the anniversary of Lexington and Concord (and Waco and the Oklahoma City bombing), all the militia groups (including a lot of teabaggers) are holding protests across the country.
Two are being held in the Washington, DC area, and they couldn't be more different; one is a simple Second Amendment rally, whose organizers are deliberately keeping out anyone who might actually bring a gun into the District or threaten the government.
The other one, being held just across the river in gun-legal Virginia, is more or less the exact opposite:
This second rally is so extreme in its orientation that even the organization calling for the military to mutiny against the federal government withdrew its support:
Yeah, when an organization that waits with breathless anticipation for civil war with a "tyrannical" federal government doesn't want to be part of an armed anti-government rally, you can bet there's trouble.
The thing to remember, though, is that this second protest is absolutely NOT an isolated fringe group. It's part and parcel of the modern conservative movement- and especially the Republican Party. Remember, these people elect representatives who call for their constituents to be "armed and dangerous" in opposition to federal laws, who appear in the South and praise efforts to "rise again" in either ignorance of history or support of rebellion.
And, of course, these are the voters without whom the Republican Party would fall to the ranks of the "third" parties. In part, the armed rally within sight of the capitol is a reminder of this: do as you're ordered, or next time we won't bother with an election.
These are people who, more and more, are coming round to the idea of an armed rebellion against the elected government of the United States.
Granted, there is a little bit of good news about this. In my home state, the governor who said Texas might need to secede is in a tight race against a Democrat... and, by the way, that three-point lead is from a polling outfit with a six-point Republican bias, as (repeatedly) proven by FiveThirtyEight.com . And the Democrats are on the attack, mocking the neo-secessionists and militiamen:
So perhaps there's hope.
But in the meantime... maybe it's time to organize gun owners who SUPPORT the currently elected government for a rally of our own.
Someone needs to make it clear that, if these loonies go to war to overturn an election, they WILL be opposed.
Two are being held in the Washington, DC area, and they couldn't be more different; one is a simple Second Amendment rally, whose organizers are deliberately keeping out anyone who might actually bring a gun into the District or threaten the government.
The other one, being held just across the river in gun-legal Virginia, is more or less the exact opposite:
According to the Washington Post, protesters at the "Restore The Constitution" rally will take advantage of new gun laws signed by President Obama allowing the carrying of firearms in national parks to make an armed stand for liberty today.
Rally organizer Daniel Almond put the event together "because he is upset about health-care reform, climate control, bank bailouts, drug laws and what he sees as President Obama's insistence on and the Democratic Congress's capitulation to a 'totalitarian socialism' that tramples individual rights," the Post reports.
Almond will be packing heat, and he's calling on others to join him. The park is just a few miles from downtown D.C. and, on a clear day, the Capitol dome is visible from the location.
This second rally is so extreme in its orientation that even the organization calling for the military to mutiny against the federal government withdrew its support:
An Oath Keeper's board member explained his group's decision to pull out of Almond's event April 12 to the Post.
"It had gotten to the point that it would be dangerous to attend," the Oath Keeper told the paper. "There are people out there willing to do anything to create chaos in an uncontrolled situation, and [the event] is wide open for disaster."
Yeah, when an organization that waits with breathless anticipation for civil war with a "tyrannical" federal government doesn't want to be part of an armed anti-government rally, you can bet there's trouble.
The thing to remember, though, is that this second protest is absolutely NOT an isolated fringe group. It's part and parcel of the modern conservative movement- and especially the Republican Party. Remember, these people elect representatives who call for their constituents to be "armed and dangerous" in opposition to federal laws, who appear in the South and praise efforts to "rise again" in either ignorance of history or support of rebellion.
And, of course, these are the voters without whom the Republican Party would fall to the ranks of the "third" parties. In part, the armed rally within sight of the capitol is a reminder of this: do as you're ordered, or next time we won't bother with an election.
These are people who, more and more, are coming round to the idea of an armed rebellion against the elected government of the United States.
Granted, there is a little bit of good news about this. In my home state, the governor who said Texas might need to secede is in a tight race against a Democrat... and, by the way, that three-point lead is from a polling outfit with a six-point Republican bias, as (repeatedly) proven by FiveThirtyEight.com . And the Democrats are on the attack, mocking the neo-secessionists and militiamen:
Barnes, in particular, took aim at what he characterized as Republicans’ frivolous pursuits since they took power, such as making it illegal to implant a microchip in a person without his permission and threatening to secede from the U.S.
“Do they not know that the Yankees have got the atomic bomb now?” he joked. “We won’t make it through Bull Run.”
So perhaps there's hope.
But in the meantime... maybe it's time to organize gun owners who SUPPORT the currently elected government for a rally of our own.
Someone needs to make it clear that, if these loonies go to war to overturn an election, they WILL be opposed.
Friday, February 12, 2010
It comes from the dead... CORN FLAKE FRIDAY!
When I was still waffling about staying or going re: the Libertarian Party, I did a series of posts here under the header, "CORN FLAKE FRIDAY!" in an attempt to educate and/or shame then-fellow Libertarians into rethinking just how far they were willing to go, and who they were willing to support, to get a toehold in the greater political world.
To recap: a Corn Flake is a person who embarrasses the Libertarian movement, or associated political movements, by doing something egregiously stupid in public. (Blog posts and the like don't count- it has to be in "meatspace".)
And this week we have someone who qualifies, even though I have not only lost all interest in trying to reform the Libertarian Party, but have gone pretty firmly into opposition on most libertarian economic policies. I just had to bring Corn Flake Friday out of retirement for this:
So, let's see- a gun rights nut building his own arsenal, expressing enthusiastic anticipation of the opportunity to gun down Federal agents if they try to arrest him or take his guns, a teabagger and worshipper of Sarah Palin, turned in to authorities by his wife after this:
And yes, folks I knew quite a few Libertarians who talked- and presumably still do- EXACTLY like this.
This guy is the poster child for weapons bans. This guy is exactly the sort of thing those of us who support the Second Amendment and the right to use deadly force in self-defense do NOT need.
For being so eager to kill law enforcement and other government officials in Armageddeon that his own wife turned him in:
Gregory Girard, this week's Corn Flake!
To recap: a Corn Flake is a person who embarrasses the Libertarian movement, or associated political movements, by doing something egregiously stupid in public. (Blog posts and the like don't count- it has to be in "meatspace".)
And this week we have someone who qualifies, even though I have not only lost all interest in trying to reform the Libertarian Party, but have gone pretty firmly into opposition on most libertarian economic policies. I just had to bring Corn Flake Friday out of retirement for this:
The Massachusetts man charged this week with stockpiling weapons after saying he feared an imminent "Armageddon" appears to have been active in the Tea Party movement, and saw Sarah Palin, who he said is on a "righteous 'Mission from God,'" as the only figure capable of averting the destruction of society.
As we reported yesterday, Gregory Girard, a Manchester technology consultant, was found with a stash of military grade weapons, explosive devices including tear gas and pepper ball canisters, camouflage clothing, knives, handcuffs, bulletproof vests and helmets, and night vision goggles, say police. They believe Girard, who pleaded not guilty at his arraignment, was "preparing for domestic and political turmoil," and feared martial law would soon be imposed.
. . .
Girard's apparent apocalyptic anxiety about a coming effort by federal thugs to crack down on personal liberties surfaced frequently on his Tea Party page. His writings may shed light on the mindset that allegedly led him to assemble his arsenal.
For instance, just last week, after another Tea Partier wrote a post railing against gun registries, Girard responded by invoking a potential "murderous rampage" by "state and Federal gangsta's (sic)," trying to take his weapons.Federal efforts to take away guns during emergencies were outlowed (sic) after the Katrina incident. And at all times, the Constitution would prohibit such a thing. So, one can know that any such effort is against the Constitution and against specific laws regarding states of emergency, and thus the effort, if it involved breaking into your home, would be no different than any felonious breaking and entry by one or more armed assailants. The Castle law in one's state, or simply the common law of the right to self defense, would ensure that close range discharge of double-ought buck from a 12 ga at the assailant's face (from behind cover!), would be a perfectly legal defense in response to an attack of armed assailants tearing the door from your home and threatening with deadly force, in the form of loaded rifles pointed in your direction. The hard part is not preventing the confiscation, but surviving the murderous rampage of the state and Federal gangsta's (sic) that would almost certainly be very enthusiastic about gunning the defending homeowner down.
. . .
In Girard's view, only one person can save us: Sarah Palin. Later in the lengthy post, he wrote:I believe that the ONLY ----- ONLY ------ potential presidental (sic) candidate I have seen with the sheer force of will and God-insprined (sic) rightous (sic) determination to bringdown (sic) this "War Powers" evil is Sarah Palin.
So, let's see- a gun rights nut building his own arsenal, expressing enthusiastic anticipation of the opportunity to gun down Federal agents if they try to arrest him or take his guns, a teabagger and worshipper of Sarah Palin, turned in to authorities by his wife after this:
Girard's wife said her husband had recently told her: "Don't talk to people, shoot them instead," and "it's fine to shoot people in the head because traitors deserve it."
And yes, folks I knew quite a few Libertarians who talked- and presumably still do- EXACTLY like this.
This guy is the poster child for weapons bans. This guy is exactly the sort of thing those of us who support the Second Amendment and the right to use deadly force in self-defense do NOT need.
For being so eager to kill law enforcement and other government officials in Armageddeon that his own wife turned him in:
Gregory Girard, this week's Corn Flake!
Monday, July 14, 2008
Brits, Learn to Eat Your Steak With a Spoon
So I was watching BBC America's version of BBC World News this evening, and they had an item about how the British government is going to crack down on violent crimes by... enforcing a ban on carrying knives.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown: "It is our intention that if you carry a knife you will be caught; if you carry a knife, you will be prosecuted; and if you carry a knife, you will be punished."
The Tories in opposition say even this is too soft, and wants long prison sentences for the crime of carrying a knife.
Articles here, here, here, and here detail things.
Now, I grant you this: over the past several years, the BBC says, violent crime in general and "knife crime" in specific have gone down. (Nonviolent crimes like burglary and home invasion skyrocketed after the nationwide handgun ban, and have stayed high.) I personally don't believe that this is directly caused by the handgun ban, though- but I admit that, presuming the BBC's reporting is accurate, violent crime is decreasing.
That said: Brits, the reason you've got a bunch of shocking stories about stabbings is that you've succeeded in taking guns away from your people. Taking away weapons is not going to stop those who want to kill. What it does do is make it harder for people to defend themselves.
If the following quote is credible, though, maybe the British government and police don't want people defending themselves when attacked anyway:
Well, guess what- there is no such thing as a purely defensive weapon. If a thing cannot be used offensively, IT'S NOT A WEAPON.
And you know what else? A knife happens to be a useful tool. Guns, I admit, are good for precious little aside from punching holes in things. Knives, on the other hand, can be used to cut, to clean, to trim, to pry, to whittle, to plane, to shave... and all of these things knives can do with much more precision or regularity than guns generally demonstrate in the hole-punching department.
There are many perfectly legal and socially acceptable reasons to carry a knife. Normally self-defense wouldn't be one of them- a knife is vastly, vastly inferior to a gun for self-defense. In a country where guns are almost completely illegal, though, a knife is about as good a second-best as is available- definitely better than pepper spray, and astronomically better than "cooperate with your attacker and give him what he wants."
But apparently PM Gordon Brown wants the useful pocket knife to be good for two to ten years in the pen:
Don't anyone tell him about the pen being mightier than the sword: then the Brits will outlaw the Bic and mandate that anyone who writes in anything other than pencil must be locked up for the good of society.
I swear, if it weren't for Jeremy Clarkson and the Pythons, I'd have no desire to ever visit England at all...
Prime Minister Gordon Brown: "It is our intention that if you carry a knife you will be caught; if you carry a knife, you will be prosecuted; and if you carry a knife, you will be punished."
The Tories in opposition say even this is too soft, and wants long prison sentences for the crime of carrying a knife.
Articles here, here, here, and here detail things.
Now, I grant you this: over the past several years, the BBC says, violent crime in general and "knife crime" in specific have gone down. (Nonviolent crimes like burglary and home invasion skyrocketed after the nationwide handgun ban, and have stayed high.) I personally don't believe that this is directly caused by the handgun ban, though- but I admit that, presuming the BBC's reporting is accurate, violent crime is decreasing.
That said: Brits, the reason you've got a bunch of shocking stories about stabbings is that you've succeeded in taking guns away from your people. Taking away weapons is not going to stop those who want to kill. What it does do is make it harder for people to defend themselves.
If the following quote is credible, though, maybe the British government and police don't want people defending themselves when attacked anyway:
Karyn McCluskey, head of Strathclyde's Violence Reduction Unit, said knife crime was endemic and dated back to the "razor gangs" of the 1920s.She said: "People give all sorts of reasons why they carry knives, including protecting themselves. But a knife is not a weapon of defence, it's a weapon of offence."
Well, guess what- there is no such thing as a purely defensive weapon. If a thing cannot be used offensively, IT'S NOT A WEAPON.
And you know what else? A knife happens to be a useful tool. Guns, I admit, are good for precious little aside from punching holes in things. Knives, on the other hand, can be used to cut, to clean, to trim, to pry, to whittle, to plane, to shave... and all of these things knives can do with much more precision or regularity than guns generally demonstrate in the hole-punching department.
There are many perfectly legal and socially acceptable reasons to carry a knife. Normally self-defense wouldn't be one of them- a knife is vastly, vastly inferior to a gun for self-defense. In a country where guns are almost completely illegal, though, a knife is about as good a second-best as is available- definitely better than pepper spray, and astronomically better than "cooperate with your attacker and give him what he wants."
But apparently PM Gordon Brown wants the useful pocket knife to be good for two to ten years in the pen:
"We will continue to make absolutely clear that carrying a knife is unacceptable in our society," he added.
Don't anyone tell him about the pen being mightier than the sword: then the Brits will outlaw the Bic and mandate that anyone who writes in anything other than pencil must be locked up for the good of society.
I swear, if it weren't for Jeremy Clarkson and the Pythons, I'd have no desire to ever visit England at all...
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Cull Day: A Great Day to be Named Bush, and More
It's already been a long day, and I'm exhausted.
Unfortunately, too much is happening for me to be completely silent today. The Democrats have caved in to Bush, giving him everything he wants with absolutely zero accountability and zero movement towards ending the war. I've already said my piece on the Democrats and their lack of anti-war credibility on my personal LiveJournal. Short version: if you want to end the war, vote Libertarian or Green in 2008- not Democratic, and certainly not Republican.
George Bush has held another fortuitously timed news conference,, announcing the declassification of matters related to attempts by al-Qaida to organize a strike on the continental United States based in Iraq. (Um... is Osama bin Laden really so stupid as to make home base for a strike on the USA in a nation crawling with US troops and militias with conflicting or opposing goals to al-Qaida?)
If the timing of the declassification announcement was deliberately timed to distract from Justice Department aide Monica Goodling's testimony before Congress, it was a waste of a perfectly good propoganda tool. Aside from vague accusations that Deputy Attorney General McNulty perjured himself before Congress and an anecdote that almost, but not quite, accuses Alberto Gonzales of attempting to influence or alter Goodling's potential testimony after she was supoenaed, Goodling opened no fresh cans of worms and provided nothing of any practical use in investigating the rampant corruption in the Justice Department.
However, Keith Olbermann will have much to say on all of this tonight, especially on the failure of Democrats to stand to their guns on Iraq. I'm not going to go into great detail on that... or much of anything, for that matter. I'm tired, I'm feeling burned out for the day, which makes it a great time for the first Cull Day since the return of this blog.
So, let's check the bookmarks and see what stories are a week old or older that don't merit a larger post...
Alabama Calls Libertarians Terrorists - On the one hand, I'm outraged at how a government agency calls people who believe in individual rights terror suspects. On the other hand, I keep remembering how many militia-movement people we had in the party when I first joined in 1999, and how a large number of them were calling for an armed revolution in case of a Gore Presidency- despite the fact that that directly violated both the spirit and the letter of the LP's membership pledge against advocating violence for political change. A lot of our fellow travelers have given the rest of society good reason to be suspicious: time we recognized the fact.
Taliban Releases Kidnapped French Aid Worker - Lesson learned by terrorists (again): Terror works.
Ricky Williams Fails Drug Test... Again - I don't think marijuana should be illegal. I do think the NFL, like any private employer, has the right to set drug standards for employment. Either way, Ricky, when you were already on suspension, continuing to drink and toke and expecting to be allowed back on the playing field was JUST PLAIN STUPID. Folks, this is what wacky weed DOES to you- it makes you think dicking around the people you owe $10 million in non-performance contract clauses is a GOOD IDEA.
Cheney Promises US Will Keep Persian Gulf Open - Two points. First- does anybody believe anymore that Cheney, and Bush and the rest of 'em, are NOT trying to get us in a shooting war in Iran? Second- does anybody in the rest of the world have any respect whatever for anything ANY American government official says, especially Cheney?
Army Offering Bonuses to Retain Officers - Yeah, because, y'know, getting badly underpaid and having benefits cut right and left while being put in ever-longer action tours and ever-shorter time stateside looks SO DAMN ATTRACTIVE to folks who've seen Iraq once... twice... thrice... four times running... Tell me, how do you say, "Not for all the corn in Iowa," in Arabic?
Karl Rove: Re-Open Democrat Voter Fraud Prosecutions, Or Else - I finally got round to reading All the President's Men last week. Today I picked up a copy of the follow-up, The Final Days, detailing how Nixon was persuaded to resign. Between that and this, I'm developing newfound respect for the Washington Post.
Texas Legislature Considers Tax on Nursing Homes - This annoys me. First, a large chunk of nursing home occupants are essentially wards of the state- Medicare or Medicaid is paying for thousands of dollars per month of care they can't afford. For these people, this tax would be a tax on the government- making these programs even MORE expensive than they already are! Second, those NOT on Medicare/Medicaid are pouring their life savings into their care... and this tax would make it even more expensive. Finally, this tax is earmarked... until a future legislature votes to redirect it to the general fund... to "improve nursing home care" by handing the money right back to the nursing homes... that is, those homes approved of by the state bureaucracy. Finally, the law has a provision forbidding nursing homes from passing it on to the consumers directly or indirectly. How in the hell do they expect to prove that a rate hike isn't due to this tax? From start to end, BAD IDEA.
Texas Senate Approves Tying Marriage License Fee to Family Counseling - Speaking of dumb shit from my state legislature, here's this notion- double the cost of getting your government's permission to get married unless you agree to state-mandated, state-controlled, state-chosen pre-marital counseling class. Considering the bill is written by Warren Chisum, the biggest homophobe and anti-sex warrior in either house of the Texas Legislature... just what kind of stuff will they teach in those classes? "Wives, your only proper role is as receptacle for your husband's semen. Husbands, you are not allowed to beat your wives with any stick thicker than one inch in diameter."
Zimbabwe to Head UN Sustainable Development Commission - First Syria chairing the UN Human Rights Commission, and now this. What gets me here isn't that the UN seems determined to prove it has no moral authority whatever to tell anybody to do anything. No, what gets me is that the UN considers Syria, Zimbabwe, and others as democracies, despite their one-party rule with fixed elections and strongmen serving for life. We need to remember that the trappings of democracy, or of a republic, by no means guarantee freedom. Only strict limitations on government power, enforced by the electorate, can do that... and if we aren't careful, what we see in Syria and Zimbabwe could happen here.
$17 Million in Texas Worker's Comp Death Benefits Kept by State, Mostly Paid Back to Insurance Companies - Wow. Government corruption and insurance corporation corruption in the same story. Please note the laws that mandate this were enacted in 1991, back when Texas was still solidly in Democrat control. As much as I'd love to stick this to Bush or Perry, I'll settle for demonstrating equal opportunity graft.
Lawmakers Try to Live a Week on Food Stamps - First, I've had to live on that amount, and I didn't have the help of food stamps. Second, the Congresscritters are very right: you just plain cannot afford a healthy diet on that amount. Third, I don't know that many people on food stamps or other assistance, but: (a) how many states don't supplement the federal food stamp program with their own programs, (b) how many food stamp people don't supplement their stamps with cash, and (c) what role do private charities play in feeding these people? Libertarians need to take an active role in creating a world where (c) adds up to no more need for taxpayers to pay for (a) and/or (b). Until then, let's get past cheap but thrilling publicity stunts like this one-week diet and get some actual facts on the topic.
... wow. That's a lot of stories, and still the list is huge. It's been really thick times for government stupidity, looks like. Probably do another of these before my upcoming business trip.
Unfortunately, too much is happening for me to be completely silent today. The Democrats have caved in to Bush, giving him everything he wants with absolutely zero accountability and zero movement towards ending the war. I've already said my piece on the Democrats and their lack of anti-war credibility on my personal LiveJournal. Short version: if you want to end the war, vote Libertarian or Green in 2008- not Democratic, and certainly not Republican.
George Bush has held another fortuitously timed news conference,, announcing the declassification of matters related to attempts by al-Qaida to organize a strike on the continental United States based in Iraq. (Um... is Osama bin Laden really so stupid as to make home base for a strike on the USA in a nation crawling with US troops and militias with conflicting or opposing goals to al-Qaida?)
If the timing of the declassification announcement was deliberately timed to distract from Justice Department aide Monica Goodling's testimony before Congress, it was a waste of a perfectly good propoganda tool. Aside from vague accusations that Deputy Attorney General McNulty perjured himself before Congress and an anecdote that almost, but not quite, accuses Alberto Gonzales of attempting to influence or alter Goodling's potential testimony after she was supoenaed, Goodling opened no fresh cans of worms and provided nothing of any practical use in investigating the rampant corruption in the Justice Department.
However, Keith Olbermann will have much to say on all of this tonight, especially on the failure of Democrats to stand to their guns on Iraq. I'm not going to go into great detail on that... or much of anything, for that matter. I'm tired, I'm feeling burned out for the day, which makes it a great time for the first Cull Day since the return of this blog.
So, let's check the bookmarks and see what stories are a week old or older that don't merit a larger post...
Alabama Calls Libertarians Terrorists - On the one hand, I'm outraged at how a government agency calls people who believe in individual rights terror suspects. On the other hand, I keep remembering how many militia-movement people we had in the party when I first joined in 1999, and how a large number of them were calling for an armed revolution in case of a Gore Presidency- despite the fact that that directly violated both the spirit and the letter of the LP's membership pledge against advocating violence for political change. A lot of our fellow travelers have given the rest of society good reason to be suspicious: time we recognized the fact.
Taliban Releases Kidnapped French Aid Worker - Lesson learned by terrorists (again): Terror works.
Ricky Williams Fails Drug Test... Again - I don't think marijuana should be illegal. I do think the NFL, like any private employer, has the right to set drug standards for employment. Either way, Ricky, when you were already on suspension, continuing to drink and toke and expecting to be allowed back on the playing field was JUST PLAIN STUPID. Folks, this is what wacky weed DOES to you- it makes you think dicking around the people you owe $10 million in non-performance contract clauses is a GOOD IDEA.
Cheney Promises US Will Keep Persian Gulf Open - Two points. First- does anybody believe anymore that Cheney, and Bush and the rest of 'em, are NOT trying to get us in a shooting war in Iran? Second- does anybody in the rest of the world have any respect whatever for anything ANY American government official says, especially Cheney?
Army Offering Bonuses to Retain Officers - Yeah, because, y'know, getting badly underpaid and having benefits cut right and left while being put in ever-longer action tours and ever-shorter time stateside looks SO DAMN ATTRACTIVE to folks who've seen Iraq once... twice... thrice... four times running... Tell me, how do you say, "Not for all the corn in Iowa," in Arabic?
Karl Rove: Re-Open Democrat Voter Fraud Prosecutions, Or Else - I finally got round to reading All the President's Men last week. Today I picked up a copy of the follow-up, The Final Days, detailing how Nixon was persuaded to resign. Between that and this, I'm developing newfound respect for the Washington Post.
Texas Legislature Considers Tax on Nursing Homes - This annoys me. First, a large chunk of nursing home occupants are essentially wards of the state- Medicare or Medicaid is paying for thousands of dollars per month of care they can't afford. For these people, this tax would be a tax on the government- making these programs even MORE expensive than they already are! Second, those NOT on Medicare/Medicaid are pouring their life savings into their care... and this tax would make it even more expensive. Finally, this tax is earmarked... until a future legislature votes to redirect it to the general fund... to "improve nursing home care" by handing the money right back to the nursing homes... that is, those homes approved of by the state bureaucracy. Finally, the law has a provision forbidding nursing homes from passing it on to the consumers directly or indirectly. How in the hell do they expect to prove that a rate hike isn't due to this tax? From start to end, BAD IDEA.
Texas Senate Approves Tying Marriage License Fee to Family Counseling - Speaking of dumb shit from my state legislature, here's this notion- double the cost of getting your government's permission to get married unless you agree to state-mandated, state-controlled, state-chosen pre-marital counseling class. Considering the bill is written by Warren Chisum, the biggest homophobe and anti-sex warrior in either house of the Texas Legislature... just what kind of stuff will they teach in those classes? "Wives, your only proper role is as receptacle for your husband's semen. Husbands, you are not allowed to beat your wives with any stick thicker than one inch in diameter."
Zimbabwe to Head UN Sustainable Development Commission - First Syria chairing the UN Human Rights Commission, and now this. What gets me here isn't that the UN seems determined to prove it has no moral authority whatever to tell anybody to do anything. No, what gets me is that the UN considers Syria, Zimbabwe, and others as democracies, despite their one-party rule with fixed elections and strongmen serving for life. We need to remember that the trappings of democracy, or of a republic, by no means guarantee freedom. Only strict limitations on government power, enforced by the electorate, can do that... and if we aren't careful, what we see in Syria and Zimbabwe could happen here.
$17 Million in Texas Worker's Comp Death Benefits Kept by State, Mostly Paid Back to Insurance Companies - Wow. Government corruption and insurance corporation corruption in the same story. Please note the laws that mandate this were enacted in 1991, back when Texas was still solidly in Democrat control. As much as I'd love to stick this to Bush or Perry, I'll settle for demonstrating equal opportunity graft.
Lawmakers Try to Live a Week on Food Stamps - First, I've had to live on that amount, and I didn't have the help of food stamps. Second, the Congresscritters are very right: you just plain cannot afford a healthy diet on that amount. Third, I don't know that many people on food stamps or other assistance, but: (a) how many states don't supplement the federal food stamp program with their own programs, (b) how many food stamp people don't supplement their stamps with cash, and (c) what role do private charities play in feeding these people? Libertarians need to take an active role in creating a world where (c) adds up to no more need for taxpayers to pay for (a) and/or (b). Until then, let's get past cheap but thrilling publicity stunts like this one-week diet and get some actual facts on the topic.
... wow. That's a lot of stories, and still the list is huge. It's been really thick times for government stupidity, looks like. Probably do another of these before my upcoming business trip.
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