0-16

I kept my word and didn't blog about the Detroit Lions after their second game, but today I am breaking my silence, since the season is over. We now know that it was over before it began.

This has been the most disgusting display of football ownership ever seen in professional sports. Yes, Mr. William Clay Ford, the blame for this forty-year debacle rests squarely on your shoulders. You are the one who has hired doofus coaches, doofus GM's, doofus scouts, all of which has lead to doofuses on the field. You wasted 10 years of Barry Sanders on Wayne Fontes and Bobby Ross. There should have been 2 or 3 Super Bowls in that span alone, but you can't pull your head out to find people to run your team! And all you had to do is look down the road about 20 miles to see how it's done, because there are teams in Auburn Hills and Detroit that have won championships and made an impact in their sport. I'm talking about the Pistons, Red Wings, and yes, even the Tigers.

It is so simple in concept: find people who are really, really good at what they do and put them in a position where they can let their talent and experience work to build up your team. Yes, you have to be able to find those people, but you should have enough contacts in the sport to find these people.

Bill Davidson and Mike Ilitch have both shown you the way, but apparently, Mr. Ford, you are unable to learn the lessons. You are satisfied with the losing, as long as there are butts in the seats. Well, how did that turn out for you this year? With a brand new stadium that is 20% empty, that's how!

And so with all of this mediocrity, this record-breaking badness, most owners with an ounce of common sense would broom the lot of these people and find new ones who could do the job. But what do you do, Mr. Ford? You promote them!!!!

Mark my words (and I'm sure I'm not the only one saying this): The Detroit Lions will never amount to anything until William Clay Ford is no longer the owner.

I think I may become a Titans or Panthers fan, or maybe even Atlanta. They at least have ownership that cares and players that can play. Certainly the Detroit Lions don't have many of those qualities going for them.

To Calvin Johnson and Kevin Smith: you deserve better than what you have here. Thank you for showing up and caring when everything was going to hell around you, but my advice to you is to play out your contract and leave for a team that will give you a chance to win. Just ask Barry Sanders about what playing in Detroit will do for you. The greatest running back ever to play the game quit because he was tired of the crap in Detroit. I was mad at him then - felt that he abandoned all of us Lions fans, but I don't blame him any more. I completely understand why he did what he did. Don't let it happen to you!!

I will probably always follow the Lions (call it "Battered Football Fan Syndrome"), but I will have no hope for them until WCF no longer owns the team.

Pausing to reflect on the season

Mostly, it seems, I blog about foolishness. Today, I'm taking a moment to blog about the foolishness of God. That may sound sacrilegious to some, but hear me out.

To a world that was violent, callous, and hard, God sent relief and redemption not in the form of a conquering army (as was expected), but in the weakness of a baby. What foolishness! To think that a baby would be able to do anything against the might of Rome, or the evil of men!

Yet on that night, that foolish story written from the foundation of time, foretold to Adam and Eve as they were expelled from Eden, and repeated by the prophets of old - began.

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!" When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us." And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. (Luke 2:8-20)

Christmas has become the season for excessive spending, excessive eating, and all kinds of self-indulgence. But in reality, Christmas is the moment where God took upon himself our flesh in all its weakness and frailty, so that he could rescue us out of the sin that has enslaved us and restore us to our proper place in his kingdom, if only we would accept that rescue.

And so, from my house to yours, we wish you not just Merry Christmas, but all the blessings and joy that extend from the birth of that Savior. Gloria in excelcis deo!



Thanks to Musings of a Vast Right Winger for the video

White House releases Automaker bailout money from TARP

I have blogged against the bailout a couple of times, and I have not changed my position. I do, however, understand the inevitability of it.

Nevertheless, I note with disappointment the announcement from the White House today that the federal government will in fact bail out the "Detroit 3" automakers, via TARP.

I hope it works - I really do. But when you do something like this, which is so totally against any kind of sound economic and fiscal practice, you shouldn't expect some sort of miracle. What you should expect is resounding failure, followed by more government intervention (especially since the next time around it will be the Obama administration that will be in charge), and more failure. And more government intervention. And...well, you get the idea.

Just as the laws of physics determine that when you drop an object it must fall to the ground (Wile E. Coyote notwithstanding), so the true laws of economics (as differentiated from Keynesian economics) determine that when a company is too inefficient, mismanaged, in debt, producing a product that is no longer wanted, or any combination thereof, it must fail and be liquidated. Newer, better, stronger, more responsive, and more profitable companies will be the result, and will absorb the displaced workers. But of course, we can't have that in this country, now can we?

What we really want, according to the latest election, is nice-sounding slogans and European Socialism. Gee, that's working out real well for them, isn't it?

Chris Dodd now giving advice on how to run International Corporations?

After teaming up with Rep. Barney Frank to make Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac fiscally sound and profitable, Senator Chris Dodd (S-CT) has turned his expertise to new horizons: the U.S. Auto industry. To those readers who don't have a sarcasm sensor installed, this last paragraph is dripping with it.

Over the weekend, the Senator took his expertise to the Sunday talk circuit, stating that a condition of the bailout (yes, bailout) for U.S. Automakers should be that General Motors Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner should be fired.

This morning, according to The Paul W. Smith Show on WJR radio, Dodd has expanded this call to include the heads of Ford and Chrysler as well.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the American voting public: behold what you have elected. Not just this year, but for the last 40 at least. The halls of Congress are now filled with this kind of foolishness, and we keep sending more of them up there. And frankly, it's on both sides of the aisle. How is it that we keep electing people who have no economic common sense at all? How is it that Chris Dodd didn't understand that when you "encourage" mortgage lenders (with threats of prosecution by Janet Reno if they don't) to make loans to people who can't pay them back, that those institutions would go bankrupt? How can any of them not understand that giving away trillions of dollars (which is not backed by anything tangible like, oh, say GOLD), is going to destroy the economy, either through hyperinflation (ala' Germany in the 1920's), or through a currency crisis (via panic selling of dollars by other countries seeking to cut their losses)

What most folks don't understand is that recession, and even depression, are necessary economic evils. Just like surgery is often required to remove diseased organs in the body, and that surgery can have a difficult and painful recovery (but you're still alive!), so recession and depression cut out the diseased parts of an economy and allows healing to take place.

I don't like the idea of millions out of work and thousands of businesses failing any more than the next guy, but I like the idea of total economic collapse even less, and that is where people like Chris Dodd are leading us.

Has the Dust Settled Yet?

There has been so much worthy of writing about over the last couple of months, but either someone else said things better than I could, or I was so angry that any post would have devolved into a stream of expletives, or I still hadn't sorted through everything in my mind enough to create a coherent message. But I have a few minutes tonight to write a few blips about a few things.

1. "The Bailout". In my last message I was quite happy than some folks in congress had the stones to stand up and say "This sucks". Not that I thought it would ultimately do any good, but it was nice to see that stinking, steaming pile of legislation known as "The Bailout" sent down to defeat in round one. Of course, subsequently, it was passed, sticking future generations of Americans with staggering national debt and a thoroughly debased currency. Don't believe for a minute that AIG and those financial services companies will ever pay that money back. Hope my kids and yours can find work somewhere in the world so fedgov can confiscate all their money to pay off that debt. Thanks a lot, jerks!

2. The Election. As you might surmise, I was none to pleased (although not terribly surprised) at the results of the election. The United States of America is mostly dead, being replaced by the United Socialist States of America. Hope you like it folks.

3. The Election, part two - a Christian perspective. Bottom line - God was not surprised by this result. He ordained it, in fact. I noticed that the sun still shines, there is still an atmosphere, and all the stars are still in the heavens. God is bigger than this election, and he still cares for his people. So, Christian, ask yourself: "Why did God allow this to happen"? Then ask yourself "What am I supposed to learn from it"? Apply as revealed.

4. Auto Bailout/Bridge Loan. There is a part of me that really wants to let the automakers fail, file for bankruptcy, and have their assets purchased by companies that are better run and will run a car company better. It would be worth it to break the UAW, which has priced American labor out of competitiveness in the world market. It would also get rid of the dinosaurs in the leadership positions of those companies who can't run a modern auto company.

The question of course is how do we deal with the impact on all those who make their living serving the auto industry at every level? Many other businesses will fail, and many thousands of people will be laid off. That is hard to contemplate, and it would also give the new president just the crisis he wants to use to implement his socialist plans for America. So which is worse: socialism or an increasingly uncompetitive auto industry and loss of manufacturing capability in this country? My gut says take the bitter medicine now, as it will be worse later, and we will be on the hook for a whole lot more, financially.

The Bailout: Round 1

Round 1 of the great $700 billion bailout scam goes to the voices of sanity. Wow! Big slap to Pres. Bush and the House Democrat leadership, all of which needed the slap desperately.

I applaud all those who voted against this package and defeated it. Keep up the good work!

America - the worst thing we could do is to take on these mortgages. We need to just hunker down and ride this out. We will be better off in the long run than passing this monstrosity of a bailout.

Bailout? Or Cover-up?

This message is not my own, but fully expresses my sentiments on the so-called "bailout" being bandied about Congress over this weekend. Make no mistake: whatever plan comes out that does anything but leave these organizations to fail will mean greater misery down the road.

Not that I think the fools in Congress will do the right thing...

Dear Friends:

The financial meltdown the economists of the Austrian School predicted has arrived.

We are in this crisis because of an excess of artificially created credit at the hands of the Federal Reserve System. The solution being proposed? More artificial credit by the Federal Reserve. No liquidation of bad debt and malinvestment is to be allowed. By doing more of the same, we will only continue and intensify the distortions in our economy - all the capital misallocation, all the malinvestment - and prevent the market's attempt to re-establish rational pricing of houses and other assets.

Last night the president addressed the nation about the financial crisis. There is no point in going through his remarks line by line, since I'd only be repeating what I've been saying over and over - not just for the past several days, but for years and even decades.

Still, at least a few observations are necessary.

The president assures us that his administration "is working with Congress to address the root cause behind much of the instability in our markets." Care to take a guess at whether the Federal Reserve and its money creation spree were even mentioned?

We are told that "low interest rates" led to excessive borrowing, but we are not told how these low interest rates came about. They were a deliberate policy of the Federal Reserve. As always, artificially low interest rates distort the market. Entrepreneurs engage in malinvestments - investments that do not make sense in light of current resource availability, that occur in more temporally remote stages of the capital structure than the pattern of consumer demand can support, and that would not have been made at all if the interest rate had been permitted to tell the truth instead of being toyed with by the Fed.

Not a word about any of that, of course, because Americans might then discover how the great wise men in Washington caused this great debacle. Better to keep scapegoating the mortgage industry or "wildcat capitalism" (as if we actually have a pure free market!).

Speaking about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the president said: "Because these companies were chartered by Congress, many believed they were guaranteed by the federal government. This allowed them to borrow enormous sums of money, fuel the market for questionable investments, and put our financial system at risk."

Doesn't that prove the foolishness of chartering Fannie and Freddie in the first place? Doesn't that suggest that maybe, just maybe, government may have contributed to this mess? And of course, by bailing out Fannie and Freddie, hasn't the federal government shown that the "many" who "believed they were guaranteed by the federal government" were in fact correct?

Then come the scare tactics. If we don't give dictatorial powers to the Treasury Secretary "the stock market would drop even more, which would reduce the value of your retirement account. The value of your home could plummet." Left unsaid, naturally, is that with the bailout and all the money and credit that must be produced out of thin air to fund it, the value of your retirement account will drop anyway, because the value of the dollar will suffer a precipitous decline. As for home prices, they are obviously much too high, and supply and demand cannot equilibrate if government insists on propping them up.

It's the same destructive strategy that government tried during the Great Depression: prop up prices at all costs. The Depression went on for over a decade. On the other hand, when liquidation was allowed to occur in the equally devastating downturn of 1921, the economy recovered within less than a year.

The president also tells us that Senators McCain and Obama will join him at the White House today in order to figure out how to get the bipartisan bailout passed. The two senators would do their country much more good if they stayed on the campaign trail debating who the bigger celebrity is, or whatever it is that occupies their attention these days.

F.A. Hayek won the Nobel Prize for showing how central banks' manipulation of interest rates creates the boom-bust cycle with which we are sadly familiar. In 1932, in the depths of the Great Depression, he described the foolish policies being pursued in his day - and which are being proposed, just as destructively, in our own:

Instead of furthering the inevitable liquidation of the maladjustments brought about by the boom during the last three years, all conceivable means have been used to prevent that readjustment from taking place; and one of these means, which has been repeatedly tried though without success, from the earliest to the most recent stages of depression, has been this deliberate policy of credit expansion.

To combat the depression by a forced credit expansion is to attempt to cure the evil by the very means which brought it about; because we are suffering from a misdirection of production, we want to create further misdirection - a procedure that can only lead to a much more severe crisis as soon as the credit expansion comes to an end... It is probably to this experiment, together with the attempts to prevent liquidation once the crisis had come, that we owe the exceptional severity and duration of the depression.

The only thing we learn from history, I am afraid, is that we do not learn from history.

The very people who have spent the past several years assuring us that the economy is fundamentally sound, and who themselves foolishly cheered the extension of all these novel kinds of mortgages, are the ones who now claim to be the experts who will restore prosperity! Just how spectacularly wrong, how utterly without a clue, does someone have to be before his expert status is called into question?

Oh, and did you notice that the bailout is now being called a "rescue plan"? I guess "bailout" wasn't sitting too well with the American people.

The very people who with somber faces tell us of their deep concern for the spread of democracy around the world are the ones most insistent on forcing a bill through Congress that the American people overwhelmingly oppose. The very fact that some of you seem to think you're supposed to have a voice in all this actually seems to annoy them.

I continue to urge you to contact your representatives and give them a piece of your mind. I myself am doing everything I can to promote the correct point of view on the crisis. Be sure also to educate yourselves on these subjects - the Campaign for Liberty blog is an excellent place to start. Read the posts, ask questions in the comment section, and learn.

H.G. Wells once said that civilization was in a race between education and catastrophe. Let us learn the truth and spread it as far and wide as our circumstances allow. For the truth is the greatest weapon we have.

To those who argue that more taxes are the answer to our national problems

...you are taking one piece of the pie (tax cuts), and saying that is the entire problem, thus ignoring the problem completely.

The problem is that as a nation we have gone from not trusting our government as far as we can throw it, to entrusting to it our lives, fortunes, and sacred honor.

Why, after all the evidence to the contrary, do we continue to let government (at all levels) run our infrastructure, educate (if you can even call it that) our children, provide our health care, fund our retirement (if you even believe that), and "fix" every little boo-boo we ever get. Not to mention providing mortgages to people who shouldn't have them in the first place, and giving tax money to "artists" who think crucifixes in jars of urine are somehow uplifting to the human spirit. And don't even get me started on elephant dung.

And what has all this governmental largesse gotten us? Beyond the obvious budget deficits that our great-grandchildren will still be paying off, it has gotten us self-centered, self-absorbed, self-indulgent, covetous, nincompoops as citizens, who see successful people as the enemy instead of someone to try to emulate, and who don't understand the simple fact that not everyone can be a billionaire, and there is no dishonor in being a farmer or a plumber or a garbage man, even though those people don't have a billion dollar net worth. But being lower on the income ladder doesn't give you the right to take (through your elected officials) one penny from anyone who is above you on it.

We have gotten here because of one hundred years of social engineering by people who thought they were smarter than everyone else who ever lived, and who thought they, through their own intellect and their own ideas, could change the laws of economics and of human nature by government decree (and oh, by the way, control). And now we are faced with the distinct possibility of a committed socialist and his sycophantic henchmen and henchwomen in Congress legislating out the last vestiges of what has made this country great. All because a few hundred thousand mindless knucklehead voters are willing to give up what has made them unique in the history of the world - their God-given liberty - and embrace the vision of a socialist utopia that never has been and never will be, because they think they will get lower taxes! To use the Biblical example - they are selling their birthright for a pot of stew.

Does this mean I think John McCain is the answer? Not at all. No Politician is the answer. A year ago I would not have voted for him, and I vote for him now reluctantly at best, because he isn't too far removed from what I have spent this post railing against. He makes me very nervous indeed. But in some of the most important areas of American life, he gets it. If he follows through on a fraction of what he promises about cleaning up the corruption in Washington, I will be happy. If he appoints another originalist justice to the Supreme Court, I will rejoice greatly! If he continues to cut taxes and reduce the size and scope of government, I will stand up and cheer.

But the change that really needs to happen is that the hearts of the citizens of this country need to change. They need to get over this need to punish success and reward mediocrity. We all need to cinch it up and make what we can out of ourselves without having the government pull down others to do it. We need to get back to the realization that government exists to protect our rights (as enumerated), and not to cater to special interests. It exists to prosecute wrongdoers, not make new laws and strain at gnats from the bench. It exists to be our servant, not our master. When we start electing representatives (not politicians!) who understand these things, then we will be getting somewhere.

So vote for Obama if you think you must, but understand what you will be getting if he is elected, and understand that your liberty is worth infinitely more than the few dollars more you might get on any tax return.

Detroit Lions - week 2

Warning! The Surgeon General has determined that watching, listening to, or reading about Detroit Lions Football will put your health (mental and physical) at serious risk.

Warning signs are nausea, vomiting, unexplained cursing, violent outbursts against tv, radio, or newspaper containing word of the Lions, and making effigies of W.C. Ford and Matt Millen. If you observe these signs in yourself or others, get medical help immediately.

This may well be my last Lions post of the year. I don't need the aggrivation right now.

Remembering WTC

Tomorrow is the 7th anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Even though Barack Obama wants to forget that it ever happened, this is what I remember most - people jumping to their deaths rather than burning to death inside their offices.

So Barack - you are wrong to forget what our enemies did to us, and you are wrong to give aid and comfort to them in your position in the US Senate. How can you look at these images and not want to eradicate from the earth those who caused so many deaths and so much heartache to so many?

You have no heart, and you have no sense of justice.

Detroit Lions Football 2008

Putting my sports blogger hat back on to comment on the Detroit Lions. I have been a Lions fan through thick and thin for at least 35 years, and I can't remember when I have been more disgusted by a team than this years version. I didn't expect a Super Bowl, or even playoffs this year, but I expected more than the pathetic effort displayed last Sunday in the season opener, especially after the supposed deadwood had been cleared from the mess Rod Marinelli inherited. I completely understand the anger and disgust being displayed by the fans, especially the longtime season ticket holders who have given up their tickets because they are fed up with the bad football they get to watch year after pathetic year.

Then, to hear the players say "we're not this bad, we can get this fixed" - boys, please...don't give us mindless optimism - GO OUT AND PLAY THE D**N GAME LIKE YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO. EARN YOUR D**N MONEY THAT YOU ARE EARNING GREAT HEAPING GOBS OF (MR. COREY REDDING). You lost to a rookie QB playing behind an inexperienced line and on a team that was 4-12 last year and is in rebuilding mode. You should have wiped the field with these guys!

So don't give us platitudes. Give us game. Give us something worth watching. Because none of us believe in now, and we don't believe in you either.

Gary Sheffield (Again)

Well, I'm turning into a sports blogger!

Now the whiner in chief on the Tigers weighs in again: Gary Sheffield is not happy being DH.

When you came here, Gary, you knew it was to be DH. Your body can't take playing defense every day, and you have proved that over your season and a half in Detroit. Every time you play defense, you hurt yourself, and when you are hurt you are worthless.

But let me say this too: I'm not happy with you being DH either. You are hitting .219 for the year. You are hitting .225 for the last 30 days. So even as a DH you aren't contributing. If you were holding up your end, maybe you would have grounds to complain, but Brandon Inge is the only regular player that is hitting worse than you for the season. Even Rentaria is hitting better than you.

Jim Leyland needs to sit you down Gary. There are others who are producing, and you are not. At this point in the season, we can't afford the dead wood.

Detroit Tigers Collapse in progress

And while I'm thinking about it, I have to comment on the woeful Tigers. They were one of the hottest team in baseball before the All-Star break, but this past weekend's series in Tampa showed with blinding clarity the fate of this team in 2008. They have some guys with heart, but not enough pitchers who can throw strikes, especially in the bullpen.

I realize the trade deadline is past and we are likely stuck with what we have for the rest of the season, so here is my official "I'm Throwing In the Towel Offseason Moves the Tigers Need to Make" list.

• Get a Decent Catcher. Brandon Inge is a good catcher, but you need him at 3B.
• Move Inge back to 3B. The guy is a gold-glove caliber 3B and you have him catching. You need to have him at 3B. Caveat: Brandon needs to get a lot more serious about his hitting - .220 just doesn't cut it. You're making lots of money - hire the best hitting coach you can find and spend the offseason at his house thinking, eating, sleeping, and breathing hitting. You need to hit .280 with 20-30 HR's every year to be earning your keep, no matter how good your defense.
• Let Miguel Cabrera continue to develop at 1B. I think Leyland is right: he can be a very good 1B, and he's shown some of it already. I like this move and I hope it sticks, because he stunk it up at 3B.
• I like Marcus Thames, but we need a left-handed power hitter in LF next year. I don't think Matt Joyce is the answer.
• What to do with Guillen? Get rid of Sheffield and make Guillen the DH. He's still got a good bat, is a switch hitter, and has some pop. It'll help his knees too. Then find someone who can play SS.
• Starting Pitching. Robertson and Rogers need to go. Willis needs to get his head out of his butt and pitch, or else give back that contract extension and go get a job a WalMart or something. Verlander was lights-out for a month, but has regressed. Still, this is only his 3rd season in the majors, I think he's doing pretty good. I hope Bonderman's surgeries fix his coconut and he will start getting out of the first inning without getting scored on. He needs to come back strong. Then, you need to find a fifth starter, preferrably a left-hander.
• Relief Pitching. The only keepers in the bullpen right now are Zumaya, Seay, and maybe Fossum (I like his BB/K ratio, and his ERA for his last 10 games is 2.41). Beyond that, this is the area that needs the most help on this team.

US House Republicans making a statement against Dems, Pelosi

Republicans in the US House are trying to raise the pressure on the Dems, and Speaker Pelosi in particular, to address the critical domestic energy needs of the United States. The Speaker adjourned the House last week for a six week vacation, presumably so Congresscritters can go back to their districts and campaign.

I listened to Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-MI) on The Paul W. Smith Show on WJR radio this morning, describing what he and about 30 other Congressmen were about on Friday. Apparently, the Speaker has control of the C-SPAN cameras, and once the House was adjourned, the cameras were turned off. According to Rep. Hoekstra, the adjournment was made contrary to normal House procedure, which allows members who wish to, to make 5-minute speeches after the daily business of the House has concluded. Speaker Pelosi did not allow this on Friday. So the Republicans did it anyway, in front of only the tourists in the Capital and whatever media happened to be there - apparently they were warmly received by all, and they are going to continue to demand that the Congress debate energy policy and provide for the energy needs of the country.

Speaker Pelosi is being shown for what she is: an out of touch with reality, environmentalist marxist, who is clueless about how the real world operates and what the needs of real Americans are. (Gee, sort of like her party's candidate for President)

Having said that, I also have to say this to the Republicans: It's about bloody time!

You doofuses have sat on your backsides for 7-1/2 years and done NOTHING. You had majorities in both houses of Congress, and you had the Presidency, and you squandered it all! So while I applaud your grandstanding now, I have very little sympathy for your whining about the Speaker and how mean she is being to you for not letting you speak. You had your chance and you blew it! Go back to your districts, find yourselves some spine, get yourselves elected (or re-elected) and do what you're supposed to do: LEAD!

Here is what's coming if you vote for Obama

...and his socialist socialized medicine agenda.

MATTERS OF LIFE AND DEATH
State denies cancer treatment, offers suicide instead
'To say, we'll pay for you to die, but not pay for you to live, it's cruel'

---

Posted: June 19, 2008
11:15 pm Eastern

© 2008 WorldNetDaily

State officials have offered a lung cancer patient the option of having the Oregon Health Plan, set up in 1994 to ration health care, pay for an assisted suicide but not for the chemotherapy prescribed by her physician.

The story appears to be a happy ending for Barbara Wagner, who has been notified by a drug manufacturer that it will provide the expensive medication, estimated to cost $4,000 a month, for the first year and then allow her to apply for further treatment, according to a report in the Eugene Register-Guard.

But the word from the state was coverage for palliative care, which would include the state's assisted suicide program, would be allowed but not coverage for the cancer treatment drugs.

"To say to someone, we'll pay for you to die, but not pay for you to live, it's cruel," Wagner told the newspaper. "I get angry. Who do they think they are?"

Here is the full article: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=67565

Repeat after me: Socialism kills. Socialism kills. Socialism kills.

Hockeytown!

A somewhat bleary-eyed post today, because I stayed up to watch the Detroit Red Wings clinch the Stanley Cup last night. At least it didn't go 3 overtimes like Monday's game did!

For all the negatives in Michigan, we still have the Wings. Congratulations to all from the Providentia Blog!

A wonderful way to poke the AlGoreists in the eye!

WorldnetDaily linked to this site today, and I thought I would pass it along to my loyal readers. Somehow it appeals to my more visceral side! Click on the image to go to the site. If I can work it out, I will drive my car to my club to fire my guns. Surely that will generate some excess CO2!

2008 Presidential Race: The Conservative Conundrum

Although we're several months out from the General Election, there is a great divide amongst conservative voters who are traditionally solid for Republicans. The presumptive party nominee, John McCain, seems to be out to alienate these conservatives at every turn with his track record of support for decidedly un-conservative legislation (McCain-Feingold being the biggest), as well as things like fetal stem-cell research, and so-called "Global Warming". Not to mention his currying favor with leftists of all stripes (like LaRaza). Influential conservative leaders like Dr. James Dobson are so far refusing to endorse McCain, and McCain is refusing to meet with them to try and sway their thinking.

These disgruntled conservatives are more and more willing to either not vote, or vote for third-party candidates that are more in line with their conservative views. These conservatives are a major voting bloc, and presumably ones that a serious Presidential contender would not want to lose in what promises to be a close race in the fall. Yet this does not seem to concern McCain.

So the question for these conservatives becomes one of taking their votes away from McCain by voting for a third party, voting for the Democrat nominee, or not voting at all. Or voting for McCain and hoping a better candidate comes along in 2012.

My own decision making is coming down to this question: which of these three bad candidates will do the least amount of damage over the next four years?

I must say that I am extremely resentful at having to vote this way. I want a candidate I can be for, that I can support without any hesitation, and that I can be passionate about as I discuss the issues in the election. I haven't had that since 1984. I thought I had it at the time in 2000, but events have proved that not to be the case. And now I have a candidate that is even worse than George W. Bush in 2004.

After that election I swore to myself that I wouldn't be put into that position again - having to vote for a candidate that I so disliked and disagreed with on most points, just because the alternative was to vote for a slimy, traitorous, disgusting, crooked, dimwit like John Kerry.

Well here I am four years later and I am in the same quandry. The Democrats give me evil from the pit of hell regardless of who wins their nomination, while the Republicans offer me "evil lite" - one that is only slightly more to the right than the Democrat. A vote for a Libertarian, or a Constitution Party candidate can be viewed as a wasted vote, even though their positions are much closer to my own views than those of McCain, because they have no chance of winning anything.

So as I said, I have to decide which candidate will do the least harm to the issues I care about: the Constitution, the economy, and abortion.

The Constitutional issues for me distill down to a couple of points: Judicial nominees, and the 2nd Amendment. The 2nd guards all the other rights recognized by the Constitution, and gives free citizens of the Republic the final safeguards over their own liberties and a counter to those who would try to take them away. You can't have any of the others without the 2nd. If McCain will follow through on his statements to appoint Strict Constructionalist justices (like Scalia and Alito) to the court, I will feel like I got my votes worth with him. As it turns out, this is the exact
reason I voted for GWB in 2004, and he has gotten to appoint 2 justices who have turned out to be pretty good choices (although Harriet Myers just made me want to, well, spit).

The same situation presents itself now as it did in 2004: whoever is elected will likely appoint 2 justices to the Supreme Court, and that decision will affect the landscape of the Republic for decades to come. I can't in good conscience cast any vote that will put either Clinton or Obama into a position to make those choices.

Of course, if the Republicans so fumble the race this year that they end up losing more seats in Congress and getting 2/3rd majorities in both houses, this will become a moot point, as the Democrats will never allow a Scalia or Alito through the nomination process, and McCain will have to appoint a moderate at the very least. The special elections that have been held this year in normally safe Republican districts have all turned out disastrously for them, and I have no confidence in their ability to change their direction, because their leadership is spineless and weak.

It doesn't look good for a party that 8 years ago held control of the Presidency and both Houses of Congress. They have squandered it all and have very little to show for it.

Home Educators and 2nd Amendment Activists: More in common than meets the eye.

Attending the INCH Conference this past weekend - the Michigan State Homeschool Conference. Friday night is always the night where the politicians show up for a few minutes to connect with us and share a few remarks.

This year, we heard from:

• Chief Justice Clifford Taylor of the Michigan Supreme Court
• State Senator Wayne Kuipers, who chairs the Senate Education Committee, among others.
• State Rep. Jack Hoogendyk, who wants to run against U.S. Senator Carl Lenin, err, Levin this fall. Jack is getting his nominating petitions signed so he can get on the ballot.

Home Educators in Michigan have had 12 years or so of relative peace from the encroachments of the educrats and their lackeys in the legislature, because we have enjoyed Republican majorities in both the House and Senate. The 2006 shift from Republican to Democrat control of the House has changed this, and now all sorts of Legislative harassment is beginning in that chamber. One that has us most up in arms is HB 5912, which for the first time will implement a registration requirement for Home Educators in Michigan. Each child will have to be registered with the local government school, ostensibly so they can make sure that some parent isn't only claiming to home school when they really aren't. Or so claims Joan Bauer, the bill's sponsor. They don't want to restrict what Home Educators are doing - of course not. We just want to prevent abuse of the system. That's all.

Firearm people will instantly recognize this rhetoric! It is the same "logic" the gun-banners use when they want to implement gun registration schemes.

We don't want to take your guns away - heavens no! We just want to make sure that the criminals don't get them. Yeah, that's right. Criminals. Oh, and crazy folks like those Iraq war soldiers who come home and get PTSD and want to kill people. But you hunters - nahh, we don't want your guns."

What they are really saying is that they want to control you, and when they think they can get away with it, to come and take your guns away. And if you think I am some wild-eyed, smelly, snaggletoothed backwoodsman who likes conspiracy theories and believes in UFO's, I say to you: look at Great Britain. And then look at Australia. It's already happened. It's not some fantasy.

So why would firearms people want to have anything to do with homeschoolers? Aren't they just a bunch of religious nutjobs? Aren't they socially retarded misfits who are bringing up children who are unable to function in the "real" world? In a word - NO.

Home Educators see the same government encroachments and abuses of power that you do. They see their rights being trampled the same as yours are. The want Liberty and limited government just like you do.

If these two groups ever got together and acted on their common interests, congresscritters and legislators of all stripes would sit up and take notice, because these two groups can guarantee election wins! They are very vocal, and very active, and for the most part put their money where their mouth is. And their time too.

So think about it folks - take it from one who is a member of both groups: We can accomplish a lot together.

Tolerant, Peaceful, Accepting Potheads on display at Lagniappe's Lair

Reading up on the events at Lagniappe's Lair today, as I am wont to do when I have a few spare minutes, and I landed in the middle of a hornets nest. It seems the Keeper of the Lair has blogged critically about the pot-fest held recently in Boulder, CO, and is being lambasted by the potheads. He seems to be holding his own, however!

Reading through the 51 replies, I couldn't help laughing at them, but I was also struck by how intolerant and bigoted they were of The Keepers opinion. I mean, for those who just want people to tolerate their habit and not look down on them for it, they sure don't practice what they preach. One even commented on how much money he makes and how much better of a person that makes him than The Keeper. (I expected him to give the length in millimeters [since he was in China] and compare it to The Keeper as well) I guess it's too much to expect that those on the left who call conservatives by names like haters, bigots, and [insert aberrant behavior here]-ophobes would show us by their own actions the level of tolerance and acceptance they think we should have, so we conservatives might learn by their example. Alas, there seems to be no more character on the left than they think is on the right.

Personally, I am probably more lax on this particular subject than The Keeper. I prefer social scorn and disassociation to the big government solution to this problem. Of course, that presupposes a common moral framework in society which, unfortunately, doesn't exist like it used to, when alcoholics and drug abusers were ostracized from polite society and confined themselves to the seedier parts of towns. But, since we will not control ourselves, government will step in to fill the void.

So thank-you potheads for showing us your true selves. Not that we didn't know already. And thanks to The Keeper for poking a stick into the nest and stirring them up so we could see them.

On the eve of Income Tax Deadline Day...

...we have this quote from Ronaldus Magnus:

"[April 15] is the last day for filing income tax returns---a day that reminds us that taxpayers pay too much of their earnings to the Federal Government. And Americans will continue to pay too much money to the Federal Government until the Congress acts on our proposals to reduce tax rates across the board... While April 15 serves as a reminder, the people of the United States truly do not need to be reminded. They are victims of inflation, which pushes them into higher tax brackets. They are robbed daily of a better standard of living. They are discouraged from work and investment... Taxes are much too high to deal in half measures... The choice before us is clear. I strongly feel that the great majority of Americans believe that nothing would better encourage economic growth than leaving more money in the hands of the people who earn it. It's time to stop stripping bare the productive citizens of America and funneling their hard-earned income into the Federal bureaucracy. Today is a day when the people reaffirm their commitment to our system by contributing a portion of their income to the Government. Americans have always been prepared to pay their fair share, but today they should make it clear to all elected officials that government has gone beyond its bounds and that the people will not tolerate the ever-increasing tax burden they have experienced in recent years."

The only issue I take with President Reagan's statement is this: "Americans have always been prepared to pay their fair share" sounds suspiciously like "reasonable gun control", and language like that is always used to justify taxes and controls that are neither fair nor reasonable.

The rest of the quote is like cool water in the desert, however. Too bad most politicians today have forgotten the message.

Mayor Nutter lives up to his name

Mayor Nutter, of Philadelphia, gets my vote for Stupid Quote of the Week.

It seems that Hizzoner wants to impose gun control on the good people of Philadelphia. Problem is, Pennsylvania state law provides that only the state can regulate firearms, and this law is backed up by Pennsylvania Supreme Court rulings.

So this guy decides he doesn't have to obey these laws, and has enacted five local anti-gun laws in defiance of the State.

Here is his rationale:

Almost 232 years ago, a group of concerned Americans took matters in their own hands and did what they needed to do by declaring that the time had come for a change. We are going to make ourselves independent of the violence that's been taking place in this city for far too long.

Obviously, Hizzoner is a graduate of the Government Education System which no longer teaches real American history, otherwise, he would have realized that those very Patriots he is comparing himself to used GUNS (gasp!) when they took matters into their own hands.

Now, I suppose to some extent he is right, in that he will use his City Police force to enforce these illegitimate laws, and they certainly have guns.

Providentia Blog calls on all Philadelphia Police Officers of good conscience to refuse to enforce these laws. (I'm sure they all read me!)

Here is the original article, if you can stomach it.

Thus spake Moses:

If you talk about race, it does not make you a racist. If you see distinctions between the genders, it does not make you a sexist. If you think critically about a denomination, it does not make you anti-religion. If you accept but don't celebrate homosexuality, it does not make you a homophobe.

Charlton Heston

...and one on McCain

I have never understood the great flurry of interest in the selection of a Presidential running mate. This is a person who gets a few photo ops with the Candidate on the podium at the convention, makes a few speeches during the campaign, and gets one debate with the VP candidate from the other side. They are supposed to bring votes to the top guy in a region or state where they are weak. Then, when elected, they sit in their office for four years doing nothing, attending state funerals when necessary, and collecting a paycheck. Why this is deemed important is beyond me.

This election (assuming that McCain is the nominee of the Republicans), the VP nomination takes on some level of meaning beyond just a few uncommitted votes in the deep south.

John McCain has been clashing with conservatives for many years, and has missed few opportunities to poke them in the eye (as examples, I give you his "agents of intolerance" quote, McCain-Feingold, McCain-Kennedy, and the "Gang of 14"). But now, he needs us. He needs us to come out and vote for him on election day in order to offset the Obama Zombies. His rhetoric has been changing somewhat toward us, and he has apparently seen the light on solutions to the illegal immigrant problem. Still, most real conservatives don't trust him any farther than they can throw him.

This is where his choice for VP becomes important. There are rumors of Giuliani or Romney, neither of whom are conservative, and neither of whom inspire much of a following (all we have to do is look at their primary performances to see that). If McCain picks anyone like these two, or someone who is a "moderate", there won't be much of a chance for real conservatives to embrace McCain.

However, if he selects someone who is a known, committed, real conservative, it can be seen as an indicator that he understands at some level that it is conservatives who are going to win this election for him, and not crossover democrats and liberal republicans.

It would remain to be seen if this epiphany would last beyond Inauguration Day, however. There's that trust thing again.

A Couple of Observations on the Democrat Candidates

1. Has anybody noticed that now that Hillary Clinton is actually having to campaign and fight for her political life, she doesn't know how to do it? She is fine when all she has to do is show up and run out the party platitudes and everyone votes for her, but when she has to actually think and plan and work and contend, she just whiffs? If she can't stand up to someone as insubstantial as Obama, what is she going to do with Achma-whatshisname, or Putin, or even Gordon Brown?
   
2. What is with the Obama supporters? Those on the left consider those who listen to Limbaugh or Hannity to be "mind-numbed robots", but even the biggest Hannity "Great American" sycophant is Albert Einstein compared to the breathless and brainless followers of Obama. Seriously - the guy has all the substance of a bag of rice cakes, and you Obama people are OK with this?
3. So it looks like McCain v. Obama this election cycle. Volatile v. Vapid. I'm just inspired. Not.
   

Here's a point to ponder...

I haven't talked about (so called) Global Warming lately, but I read this statement today and thought it made and excellent point:

"Once the government gains control over energy decisions, do we really think they will relinquish it after manmade global warming is realized to be a false alarm? It has been said that whoever controls energy, controls life. Right now, the free market (which means you) controls those decisions. Do we need to remind ourselves how well things went in the former Soviet Union when the bureaucrats made the economic decisions, rather than letting the collective will of the people, expressed though a free market, govern the economy?... What will people do when they realize that going along with the 56-percent scientific majority has resulted in them giving up much of their personal freedom in the process? I wouldn't trade that freedom for any presidential candidate."

Climatologist Roy Spencer

Do People Actually Think Like This?

From an AP report on a protest by families and victims of the VA Tech gunman;

Va. Tech Families Protest State Gun Law

Published: 1/21/08, 10:25 PM EDT
By KRISTEN GELINEAU

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Survivors and families of the victims of the Virginia Tech shootings faced off Monday against gun-rights advocates over a bill that would prevent criminals and the mentally ill from buying firearms at gun shows.

About 100 supporters of the measure lay on the Capitol lawn to honor the victims of gun violence, as about 200 opponents stood nearby, holding signs that read, "Here Lie Disarmed Victims."

At one point, Jeff Knox, director of operations of the Manassas-based Firearms Coalition, approached survivor Colin Goddard and said students could have stopped student Seung-Hui Cho's rampage if they had been allowed to carry guns on campus.

"I would have stopped him," Knox said. "Because when I went to school, I carried a gun. It was legal; I did it."

Goddard, a Virginia Tech senior who was shot four times in the April 16 massacre, was taken aback, then said: "I feel sorry for you - the fact that you feel you need to protect yourself in every situation.

"You're afraid of crazy situations happening. I've lived through this and I know that I can't continue in my life afraid of things," he said, adding that he put his "full trust" in the police to protect society.

The bolding is mine.

When I read this I was speechless. I just don't understand this mentality.

Good for the VCDL - they got it just right! "Here lie unarmed victims"

Bush Administration sides with DC on Heller?

That's right. Ol' "Compassionate Conservative" George had his Justice Department file an amicus brief with the Supreme Court in the Heller case that sides with Washington DC.

Syd Wheedon, from "The Sight M1911" says it very well:

While I try to avoid doing too much direct politics in this newsletter, except as it relates to gun rights and law, I feel compelled to express my utter outrage at the Bush administration’s filing of an amicus curiae brief to the Supreme Court in support of the Washington DC handgun ban. According to the Washington Post, the government’s brief includes the following, “The court's decision could be read to hold that the Second Amendment categorically precludes any ban on a category of 'Arms' that can be traced back to the Founding era," the government argued. “If adopted by this court, such an analysis could cast doubt on the constitutionality of existing federal legislation prohibiting the possession of certain firearms, including machineguns.” Sorry guys, but it’s the Second Amendment itself that “casts doubt on the constitutionality of existing federal legislation,” and not any decision by a court.

Government is jealous of its power and it seems that parties and promises get thrown under the bus when the rubber meets the road. I am truly and profoundly disappointed.

I couldn't agree more.

German Educrats At It Again

In an article in WorldNetDaily.com, Bob Unruh reports:

A German family has completed its flight to Great Britain after the mayor of their hometown filed a court action to give custody of the children to the state because the parents have been homeschooling, according to officials at Netzwerk-Bildungsfreiheit, an advocacy organization addressing such issues.

Officials there said Klaus and Kathrin Landahl and their five children, including four of school age, "are in safety in England. They reached Dover on Saturday midnight."

Can you imagine having to leave your home, family, friends, and country just because you don't want the state to teach [that is, indoctrinate] your children, and some petty tyrant decides he knows better than you do? And the Landahls are not the only ones being forced into this decision.

Make no mistake, tyranny has returned to Germany and is growing.

Read the full article here.