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