The Sad American

As I write this today, I can’t help but feel sad about the country that I love so much and how it’s moral values have gone in the gutter so quickly. There was a time when we were a land of laws and moral values that exceeded anything in history. Now, we are simply becoming another empire that will fail from within, as history will tell it. Anwar al-Awlaki was killed by an American missile. He was said to be a TERRORIST! Another American, Samir Khan, was also reported to have been killed in the drone hit. Both of these men, claimed to have been part of the Al Qaeda terrorist organization are reported as dead. Interestingly, Awlaki has been killed 4 times now, as reported by the media. He was killed a few times in 2009, but that didn’t seem to be enough, so they killed him again. So what is exactly wrong with all of this?

After the Fall: Part Two

Life has now quieted down a lot. The violence that occurred during the early stages of the fall, are non-existent now. Crime is almost unheard of, as people are working together to survive and pick up the pieces of their now very changed environment. Most people made it through with just some moderate problems, neighbors stepped up and helped those who were less prepared. The U.S. dollar is still here, but things sure cost more. Food is finally hitting the grocery stores, but not cheap at all. The cities are almost empty, as government crackdowns of civil disobedience turned deadly. Those who could fled, those who couldn’t were killed in the violence or later rounded up. Where they are is only a guess. Rumors have it that a Communist group is trying to take over and form a new government, time to start pushing a better plan, with a new constitution.

Guest Commentary – Respecting the Founders

After doing the open mic we had the NBA Finals on Thursday night, and with my Celtics playing, I simply cannot miss watching those games. And to have it be game 7 as well… I will only say that I felt that the officiating was horrible, as evidenced by the fact that the Celtics had 5 players with 4 or more fouls with 3 minutes left. The Lakers had 1. The Lakers were sent to the line to shoot free throws 21 times in the 4th quarter. The Celtics only 6. 37-17 for the entire game. Refs just were determined to give the Lakers every chance they could to score. I am disgusted with the game. The Celtics beat them, the refs took it away. For the guest commentary, we have another appearance by Jon Smith. Jon has been sending me guest commentary articles regularly. I am always impressed with the way that he thinks out the issues, and I enjoy reading his articles. Certainly when I have other guest commentaries to post, I will do so. But I am never disappointed when I am posting Jon’s. For anyone who is not aware, Jon also has his own blog, which also usually feature the articles that we discuss here. You can visit Jon’s blog here: The Libertarian Blog (will open up a new window).

Tuesday Night Open Mic for June 1, 2010

I hope that everyone is sufficiently rested after a long holiday weekend for Memorial Day. Allow me to here say again thank you to all who have chosen to serve their country, and to pay a small tribute to those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for what they believed in. For this week’s open mic we have some interesting topics. Our first topic involves yet another anti-christian ruling in Connecticut. We are also delving into the flawed tactics of the census and how it is being used as a tool of manipulation rather than to accomplish its actual purposes. Add to that yet another jackass California local government entity deciding that they will ignore reality and boycott Arizona, while the leader of the country says nothing. Finally, we will hopefully get some input from the economically literate folks at SUFA as to why the Federal Reserve wants to stop regulations protecting small businesses but not consumers.

Recess Appointments… or Circumvention?

I am not going to write a really long article about this particular topic (of course it won’t really be a short article either). But it really irks me so I am going to put it out there and watch to see how people either defend or repudiate this act. As you may or may not have noticed on Friday, the President decided that now that Congress is in recess he would use his authority within the Constitution to appoint members to top posts within the administration without waiting for approval from the Senate. In general, I don’t have an issue with this being done. However, I do have issue with one of the appointments specifically. And I refuse to allow the President, of all people to put a false spin on things or to fail to recognize some of the reasons that he is in the situation that he now finds himself. I had a different article planned for tonight, but I will run it tomorrow instead, as I am making a few adjustments to it and awaiting some feedback on it.

OK, A Little Health Care

But not the real article I know that you are expecting. I am still reading through all the “changes” and “fixes” that have been done. Trying to re-evaluate and see if there is anything that I can find that I like about what has been passed. So my true evaluation of the bill is forthcoming, but could take a bit. 3000 pages is a lot of reading. What I am finding extremely frustrating is the consensus from those on the left that the passage of this monstrosity is a good thing. It is almost as though they have no concept of what is in the bill. I am failing to comprehend how on earth anyone could think that this is a good bill that we should be celebrating the passage of.  Strike that.  I absolutely understand why the politicians think it is a good thing. But I am talking about everyone else. It simply baffles the mind.

Using Populist Appeal to Change the Rules

Mr. Smith Filibusters

This article actually began as an open mic night topic last week (as you will be able to tell by the format I offer it in), when I initially read the story. As I began thinking about it, I realized that it was something that was going to take a little bit more time to cover than was usual for an open mic topic. That is mostly because I want to expand the discussion into a broader one, focused on more than just this one instance. The article that I am linking to below is written by Senator Tom Udall from New Mexico. This freshman Senator is setting his sights on eliminating the the ability for the Republicans to block legislation through the use of the filibuster in the Senate. And his rationale for doing so is the Constitution. Now I am not a Constitutional scholar, but I understand it pretty well and I have studied it extensively, both as a supporter and a detractor. And what I see from the Senator is yet another attempt by members of government to find a “loophole” to accomplish whatever they want to accomplish, our freedom be damned…

I Don’t Want to Tame Big Government….

So as you awaken to the beginning of yet another week in today’s America, I offer today a bit of a pep talk, a bit of a rallying cry, and a bit of a further explanation for where I want to go, both personally and with Stand Up For America. I can tell you all that the last 14 months has been a tough time for me. Challenged by many of you, those faithful readers that have digested my daily thoughts, and then took off your kid gloves and smacked me around, I have spent the last 14 months challenging myself. I found that the paradigm that I had been living for so very long….. was not entirely flawless (yeah, I know… Shocker). I found that while I still am smarter than the average bear, I still make mistakes, find contradictions in my conclusions, and stumble as I attempt to find the path to personal freedom, individual liberty, and personal responsibility. My most shocking conclusion (at least most shocking to me) came in my conclusion about government in general.

What I found is that I have absolutely zero interest in taming big government…. I want to kill it.

Yet Another Excuse to Attack the 2nd Amendment

I know that many of you were expecting that I would be talking about the travesty that occurred Saturday night in the House of Representatives. Fear not, I am going to tackle that, but not tonight. I want to finish reading the bill that passed before I begin commenting on it. I will say I am very disappointed that it passed, and thus far I am under the impression that the Democrats in Congress are interested in passing a health insurance reform bill, but have no concern with whether it will actually be a good bill or an effective bill. But enough for tonight, I am hoping to make the newly passed bill the topic tomorrow night. For tonight I offer some thoughts from over there at the Huffington Post. It seems that the tragic events at Fort Hood have become yet another excuse for those on the far left to clamor about taking people’s guns away yet again. I will offer you all the opportunity to read what this particular person had to say, and then weigh in with my own thoughts…

Guest Commentary – A New Constitutional Amendment?

And a good Friday to everyone. I hope that everyone is settling in for the weekend and planning some time with family and friends, hopefully watching my Nittany Lions go into the Big House and whip some Wolverine behind. All that really needs to be said is WE ARE… PENN STATE! (and it is OUR chant, so suck it Marshall, you stole it for your movie). I apologize for the last couple of weeks and the fact that we had no guest commentary posted. There have been some submitted. Last Friday I simply wasn’t able to get on and post one as I was traveling. The previous Friday I was just hanging out with Mrs. Weapon, and she didn’t feel like giving me up for the night. For those that have sent me articles, I promise I am looking over them and will get back to you soon. All the ones sent to me thus far are going to be used. They all look good. Tonight we have an article submitted by a reader of the site who has thus far not jumped into the fray of conversation. He sent me this proposal and I found it interesting, so….

What Happened to Reason and Values in This Country? Part 1

I have been sitting around thinking about this subject all day. I knew last night that I was going to write this article. I kind of know what I want to say. And I will hope that it comes out the way that I want it to come out. Let me say up front what I want to accomplish with this piece. I want to set a few things straight for some of the folks that frequent the site. I have had this feeling over the last couple of weeks as I read the comments and discussions that I could not put my finger on. Something just didn’t feel right to me, no matter how detailed some of the responses were or how intelligent the people making them were. So for a couple of weeks I have tried to put my finger on what feels “wrong”. After some introspection, I think I have it figured out. And it isn’t just about the people on this site. It is about people everywhere in this country. It isn’t the left or the right (although lately it has been the left in charge and the left most guilty of forgetting what I am going to talk about). The fact is that the American public needs to wake up and get a grip on the absolute group of morally bankrupt idiots in Washington.

New Values to Old Ideals… Guest Commentary

I come to another Friday night and the always popular guest commentary. As I have always said, I truly enjoy reading these and I value the effort that people put into writing about a subject that they believe in. Tonight we have a repeat guest in G.A. Rowe. I have to say that while he almost always has something to pick in the articles that I write, I also greatly respect that he sticks to his guns and doesn’t back down from a challenge. For anyone who isn’t familiar with him, G.A. believes in the Constitution, and defends it vigorously. And to say that he is a man of action, well that would be an understatement. A retired Marine, he is ready to again defend his country against a movement that he sees as harmful to the American ideals. And that is a trait that is rare in America these days, in a land of folks willing to accept the status quo rather than stand up for the rights that are being stripped from them….

Defining What Government Does… or Doesn’t

I was reading through the comments on last night’s open mic throughout the day today. Some good stuff there. An interesting discussion with Ray about racism that is forcing me to think hard about my definitions and my perceptions, which is a good thing. I look forward to continuing it. But I was really struck reading the back and forth between BF and Chris Devine concerning government, and the ensuing thoughts that were offered by PeterB. A couple of weeks ago we had a discussion about defining what government is, and why it is important to do so. But this conversation I was witnessing today went a little further than that and I felt it warranted some more discussion amongst us all. If you would like to first review the discussion from the other week, you can do so HERE . There were some interesting discussions. But I want to attempt to refine the conversation, specifically with Chris and BF, as I think differently than both of them…

Does the 10th Amendment Movement Have Hope?

There has been a distinct increase in the rhetoric concerning the 10th Amendment over the last couple of months. I first started hearing real rumblings in about February. It began with the Economic Stimulus Bill and grew from there. While I haven’t verified it, I even heard that the Governor of Texas, while attending one of the Tax Day Tea Parties, used the word secession in his speech. There is no doubt that the federal government’s level of control over the states has grown over the last several years, and the stimulus bill added a significant amount of that in February. At this point I would have to say that the level of power held by the states is at an all time low. This, in my opinion, goes against the very ideals of the founders. Apparently I am not alone in this opinion…

Another Democratic Flip-Flop

In a surprising turn of events, the Obama administration is now reported to be reversing course and has come to the conclusion that all of their bitching and whining was unjustified. Realizing the flaw in their initial thinking and acknowledging that their petty attacks and reckless accusations against President Bush were unwarranted in this particular area, they have issued a formal apology. OK, I made that second part up. We all know that there will not be a time when the arrogant group of liberals running the Democratic party admit to being wrong or offer any apologies to Bush. But interestingly, they are in fact reversing course in the military commission system at Gitmo.

Best If Used Before….

I have had quite a few requests for this topic so I figured I would take a stab at it and see where the conversation takes us. The topic is term limits for the people we elect to represent us in Congress. Hence the title of the article, as politicians need to have expiration dates. That way we can simply check the “Best if Used By” date on the carton and throw them away before we take the lid off and ruin a perfectly good bowl of cereal with them. I can tell you that I, at this point, would like to see term limits placed upon members of Congress. I am not sure how long those limits should be. But we’ll discuss that. It seems to me that the biggest obstacle to Congress serving the constituency is that the members of Congress have evolved into a political elite who do everything in their power to hold on to that seat and the money and power that comes with it.

Why State’s Rights is a Flawed Argument

As promised we continue with my plan to publish the articles that people send to me. As a side note to this, please don’t be afraid to send me articles. I know that some of you are worried that you won’t have good spelling or grammar. If asked I am always willing to help with that. But more importantly, I would like to make this a weekly thing that I do every Friday night. So I will be needing commentary from folks to do so. The ones that people have sent to me thus far have been interesting. So onward to tonight’s guest commentary…

What Did Thomas Jefferson Know About the Internet?

I want to thank everyone for yet another spirited debate yesterday as we discussed the treatment of Christians in today’s America. For the most part everyone was respectful and stuck to the facts rather than going on a religious rant. We were fortunate to have many different views to learn from. I am always awed by the different perspectives and my ability to learn from them all. In particular I want to welcome Chris back because he made some great points today. I imagine he will be able to contribute to tonight’s topic as well.  The debates there were good and one particular one stuck out as I perused the discussions. So I wanted to cover it further tonight. That topic would be the Constitution and its interpretation….

So What is All This Tea Party Hoo-Ha?

Being the informed readers that you are, you have already heard about the planned tax day tea parties that are being planned across the country. Over the last week or two I have seen several comments about them. Some feel that they are a good idea. Some feel they are a bad idea. Some feel that while a good idea, they will not be all that effective. In reading it all I came to the conclusion that many people simply don’t know enough about what is happening to be able to either support or oppose them. So I figured that maybe it was time to bring in an expert who would be able to answer the questions, both yours and mine. Fortunately for all of us, we have a subject matter expert on the subject right here in our readership….

Because We Cannot Let Maureen Dowd Suffer

I think you all know what I think of the Main Stream Media. All of them are biased. Most, but not all, of them are biased to the left. I chuckle at the sheer stupidity of anyone who attempts to make the claim that this isn’t true. They point to Fox News, but in reality Fox does pretty unbiased news during the day and freely admits that they turn the station over to conservative hosts at night. But it is far too easy to point out MSNBC, CNN, NBC, CBS, The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, LA Times, Keith Olberman, Katie Couric, and the wonderful Mrs. Dowd…. you get the point. The fact is that the news simply is not the news any more.

Further Assaults on the Free Market

I have to make that statement about “further assaults on the free market” with a bit of a grin on my face. Because there is nothing free about the market anymore. Government has gotten its corrupt little hands into just about every facet of the free market and regulated and taxed and controlled it to death. But as we sit here watching the demise of the business world as we know it, I still find myself stunned at some of the moves. I wasn’t surprised when Team O’prompter used every miniscule misstep in the private industries to seize control and get government’s foot in the proverbial door. After all, that is what they do…. lie and get the American people fired up against a business and tell you that you need them to control this out of control company or industry….

Why Don’t You Come and Take It From Me?

I have noticed a few comments on the site lately around the issue of the 2nd Amendment. I have never really addressed the issue directly on the site so I figure it is about time. I suppose the reason that I have not addressed the issue previously is because I saw it as so inane that I didn’t think about it much. When debating many political issues, I can usually at least understand the position of the opposite argument to me. But not on this one. I have still never run into a single logical debatable reason for the opposition’s stance. But I will give all of you the chance to give me one…

Has the Time Come for Republicans to Marginalize God?

OK, I know that this is upsetting some of you already. You read that headline and the hackles on your back went up. Let me say first of all that I am not saying that the answer to this question is yes. I am also not saying it is no. I am saying I want to have a discussion with all of you smart folks about this. We have been discussing a way forward for the Republican party. I believe the answer may lie in changing the party’s stance in order to re-create the party as one more for the moderate voters in America. And I believe that this question has to be asked as we discuss this subject. It plays into a bunch of platform issues, and the reality is that the vast majority of Americans do not fall into the extreme right or extreme left.

Taxes Part 2… How Do We Fix It?

In part one about taxes I took the time to discuss my views on taxes; Which ones were constitutional in my view and which ones were not. And I am writing this one simultaneously. What is right and what needs to be the way forward are two different discussions in my opinion. So I wanted to keep them separate from one another. That thread for discussion of what taxes are constitutional and this one for what might be a better way to incorporate taxes in the government as I would attempt to run it today. So here goes…

My View on Taxes… Part 1

I hate taxes. I think we can all agree with that statement. I don’t go as far as calling all taxes theft. But that doesn’t mean that I am OK with all of the taxes that we pay. Black Flag and I had  this mini discussion a month or two ago and I said then I would write about taxes when I had a chance to clarify where I stand on them. And it is a harder piece to write than I would have figured, only because I had to really think about a lot of them and consider whether they are fair or not, whether they contribute to the greater good or not. But since I write about politics, I do feel this is an important thing to ferret out.

I can whip Chuck Norris, Too

If I drank enough, I might get silly enough to mutter those words. It’s a good thing I don’t drink. One thing that I don’t want anyone to get away from understanding is that the President is just a human being. I mean how many times have we heard people speaking completely out of their ass. “I can whip your ass”, only to never have the guts to try. They never thought they could but they talked a great game. “I am going to tell my boss what an asshole he is”, only to never find the cajones to say a word. Well, President Obama is no different than everyone else. He can talk a great game too. Problem is…. Talk is cheap.

American Revolution Part Deux

You say you want a revolution? Me too. I have used the word early and often on this site because I am good and pissed off. Wait… that sounds a bit too angry. How about this… I am less than pleased with the outcome of recent electoral processes and slightly dissatisfied with the direction of the two primary political parties represented in today’s national political spectrum. Ah, FRACK IT. I am pissed off. Who am I kidding? I am a little bitter, a little fired up, a little less wealthy, a little more kicked around, a little bit country and and little bit Rock n Roll. Those last two would make a great song… nah, it would never work. 

Pissed Off Yet America? We Need a Change

As part of my daily rituals, I routinely go out and seek other blogs to find out what people are saying. I have been struggling a bit lately with figuring out exactly where I wanted to go with this blog, whether I was going to push Libertarianism, simply give daily reports on current news, or maybe begin writing daily poems dedicated to the trees. I realized that last one might lose me some of my valuable readers, so I ruled it out quickly. But really, how do I want to proceed. I have found one common thread in what I read out there and I think that it may provide me an answer for where I go next….

Now the Tough Part… Getting There from Here

Last night I discussed the fact that too often the true anarchist bases argument on government only exists through violence. I feel like I made my point, although the anarchists aren’t going to accept that. But we can argue that point in that thread. I promised last night that tonight I would post my thoughts on what needs to happen in America for us to get back in control of the government. This is supposed to be the government by the people and for the people. Washington has lost sight of that. In fact I believe there is actually a poster behind the House Speaker’s chair that says “By the Party, For the Party”

The Fallacy of Violence

I have noticed that in many of the conversations that take place here, there is a persistent play by some who oppose all government. That play is to jump up and end every argument by claiming that government’s only purpose is violence. It doesn’t matter what the debate begins being about, it always ends with that statement. And it ends at that point for a very different reason than the reasons it should end. I decided to once again put forth my vision for where America needs to go in order to take back our country.