Government of the Banksters, by the Stupid, and for the Ignorant

The Banksters are worming their way out, and our stinking government "regulators" will probably let them get away with it.
Meanwhile, over on Capitol Hill, the Demicans and Republicrats have conspired to bail out the stupid and the ignorant to the tune of $300 Billion we don't have. Our tax dollars are encouraging irresponsibility and greed.
Suggested Slogans:
- I live within my means and all I got was this lousy $600 check
- I bought a house I could afford. Boy do I feel dumb
- Pay your taxes: A Wall Street welfare queen needs your support
- Look on the back of your stimulus check: Made in China

The Ten Cannots

The Ten Cannots of Abraham Lincoln have been circulating since forever. President Reagan has quoted them, Lincoln impersonators have used them in their historic presentations, and now they are circling the globe via e-mail. Only one slight problem… President Lincoln is not the author. They were written by a Reverend Boetscher over 90 years ago. See the full story here.

Nonetheless, like all good wisdom, they are as applicable today, maybe more so, as when they were written. If our politicians had to live by these rules it would ruin their franchise! If ordinary citizens took them to heart our country would be much better off.

"The 10 Cannots"
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot help small men by tearing down big men.
You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.
You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than your income.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatreds.
You cannot establish security on borrowed money.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away a man's initiative and independence.
You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.
-- Written by Rev. Boetscher

Ron Paul For the Long Haul

He's still in it, folks! Ron Paul has not dropped out. Here's an excerpt from the Washington Post:

"If it was just for the presidency, it would have ended a long time ago," says supporter Tom Martin, 50, a database administrator from State College, Pa. "The idea was to reinvigorate the Republican Party back to its principles and, more than that, to reinvigorate the American people back to its principles."

I'm asking those conservatives who don't like Dr. Paul to please hold their fire. You may not agree with everything he says (I don't), but he does have many good points when it comes to the constitution and how our politicians abuse it at every turn.

What I respect about him at this juncture is his decision to stay aboard that stinking, sinking ship known as the Republican Party. Ideological luminaries such as Pat Buchanan, Alan Keyes, and Bob Barr have already manned the lifeboats. I wish they would have stayed.

After failing to win friends and influence voters as a power-mad big spender, the GOP has become a craven, intellectually inbred beast. The GOP needs intellectual ferment, but it's driving some of the best (and occasionally odd) mind away, producing a bland pablum that conservatives and moderates everywhere are spitting out with disgust. They've reverted to your dad's Republican party before Ronald Reagan: Permanent patsy to the Democrats, bereft of ideas, politicians going along to get along, doing anything to cling to their seats. Ron Paul didn't drive the voters away, the cowards who abandoned their conservative principles did.

It's time for an ideological insurrection. Pitchfork Pat couldn't get 'er done, maybe Dr. Paul has the prescription.

Iraq Perspective from Michael Yon

Violence is up in Iraq. Michael Yon tells us why it is not necessarily a bad sign. Like Michael Totten, Mr. Yon practically lives in Iraq, providing valuable eyewitness accounts from neighborhoods all over the country. Here's an excerpt:

"We are taking more casualties now, just as we did in the first part of 2007, because we have taken up the next crucial challenge of this war: confronting the Shia militias."

He is cautiously optimistic and breaks down the situation for us in simple, straightforward language. This is real journalism. Check it out!

The Hyperpower and the Hypocrites

Earth Times reports we just returned six more well-fed, well-rested Guantanamo prisoners back to the 8^th century societies they came from. One paragraph from the article stood out:

“About 270 detainees are still being held at Guantanamo. The Defence Department said it was still looking for countries that would take in about 65 prisoners deemed eligible for release. The US has released about 500 prisoners since 2002, but has often struggled to find countries that will accept the detainees and sought guarantees that they will not be tortured."

Europe clamors for us to shut down Guantanamo, but turns the other way, studiously inattentive, whistling absentmindedly, hands in pockets when we address the subject of repatriating the European ones back to the old continent. Men with strong British names like Mohammad and Farook may never play darts on the old sod again. A certain Herr Al-Jihadi, of the old and venerable Hamburg Jihadis, fears he will never again cast his bushy-browed gaze upon the land of Beer and Bratwurst. While refusing to ease the plight of their imprisoned countrymen, the Euros also insist men from delightful Middle Eastern and South Asian countries may not be repatriated for fear they will be tortured. So here we are in a logical cul-de-sac: Can’t keep them in prison, can’t turn them loose. The Euros and the Internationales are good at scolding bad behavior, but come up a little short on solutions.

I don’t know what the alternative is. They sure as hell can’t be turned loose on American soil (of course, that is the conclusion the Bush-haters have steered us into.) I don’t even want them stinking up American jails. Maybe we could turn them over to the men and women in powdered wigs at the Hague. Things have been pretty quiet there since Slobo kicked the bucket. For those who need a reminder, the Clinton administration cast Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic as the demon in the Balkan tragedy-drama. He was perfect for the part: He looked mean, had an evil-sounding name, and had directed the killing of Muslims (just ignore the fact that some of his victims were terrorists.) We dragged him to The Hague, where he commenced to making a shambles of international justice with his long-winded angry tirades. The Euros stood around looking helplessly at one another and flapping their arms futilely in response. Anyway, I think the Hague is the perfect place to wrap this whole debacle up. Wasn’t it Karl Marx who said something about history repeating itself, first as tragedy, secondly as farce?

The only alternative left is to interrogate future captives on the battlefield then shoot them dead after getting what we want out of them. There’s probably some international law against that…

Remember rendition? You know, secret CIA flights (probably in black planes with meat hooks hanging from the ceiling) that carried to their doom poor innocent men who accidentally stumbled onto the battle field with rocket launchers in their hands? Remember talk about how the US had turned the world into our own global Gulag Archipelago? Why aren’t we hearing about that anymore?

Here’s your answer: Old Europe was complicit all along.

It’s a game we play. The US plays good cop, and bad cop, while Europe plays the moral cop, blowing the whistle on the actions we take to protect ourselves and them. It’s all part of the deal: European governments cravenly cooperate and egg us on in private while criticizing us in public. If the Euros and the Internationales want us to adopt humane (according to them) policies, then they need to grow up and take some responsibility for their actions, or inaction, as the case may be. We can argue the legalities of Guantanamo, but let’s get all the cards on the table first. Fritz and Basil still have a few up their sleeves.

Links:
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/202927,nine-prisoners-released-from-guantanamo.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/16/AR2006101601339.html

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=42218

Mission Accomplished

To those who wish President Bush would admit his mistakes, cast your gaze upon events of the last few days:

Like ancient supplicants trying to appease the angry gods, the White House has admitted it erred in using the phrase “mission accomplished” five years ago. The response has been less than gracious, with the DNC and smirking journalists piling on. Can’t really blame them, I guess. Politics is blood sport and savvy fighters never pass up a chance to clobber the opponent. Especially one who had them dancing to his tune a short few years ago.

The Dems and the press still have a bad taste in their mouth from the kisses they gave the President immediately after 9/11. The Dems are still red-faced from being duped by someone so stupid. The press still nurses a guilty conscience for collaborating with the enemy White House.

Remember the fawning coverage of SecDef Rumsfeld, how his daily press conferences were must-see TV? Remember how President Bush gained stature and gravitas in those days after the catastrophe? The press took him seriously and they’ve hated themselves for it ever since.

But the coup de grace was the aircraft carrier event starring a dashing President Bush as Top Gun Commander in Chief. He looked so heroic. The press must have been simmering in self-loathing as they covered that tableau worthy of Hollywood. I imagine them muttering to themselves, swearing revenge on the man who made them complicit in this obviously staged event (What presidential event isn’t staged?)

Oh yes, the Dems and the press must have inwardly swore he would have to pay. Pay for the swagger, the unwavering religious belief, the cowboy mentality (smoke ‘em out! Yer either with us or agin’ us), the inability or disinclination to explain himself. He’d have to pay for that 90% approval rating! Can’t let anybody get that big, not even the president. Unfortunately, subsequent poor decision-making and various blunders by his administration hastened his downfall.

President Bush is now where the press and the Dems want him: A failed president sitting on a dismal approval rating. Mission Accomplished.

Naked Workers of the World: Clothe Yourselves!

“Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.”

-- Mark Twain

Today is May Day. In much of Europe and Latin America, today is Labor Day.

It’s campaign season, so we’re hearing about the masses of people living in inner-city poverty because there are no jobs, or those left jobless because the factory shut down, etc. Those of us who suggest the unemployed move to where the jobs are or go get some training are shouted down either as uncaring or naively simplistic.

Here’s a question: What would your chances of getting hired be if you showed up to the job interview naked? Probably not too good. OK, how about if you presented yourself wearing a 17th Century pilgrim outfit? You know, the big wide-brim hat with a large buckle in the front, poofy-sleeved shirt, wide black belt with a big buckle, leather breeches, square shoes with, well, a buckle. You’d probably be higher on the list than the naked guy, but your chances of landing that job would still be quite slim.

Well, we have a lot of naked people looking for work in this country. And we have people in pilgrim’s costumes, women wearing Victorian era dresses with the thousand buttons down the front, men in tight-fitting 70’s disco garb… Times change, and if you want to stay employed you must change with them. The COBOL programmer has gone the way of the wheelwright and the candlestick maker. Detroit used to be a boomtown, but it ain’t one no more, and thousands have voted with their feet.

If you are a displaced worker and you’re waiting for Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama or John McCain to help you, you’re going to be waiting a long, long time. Politicians win elections by making promises to people like you, but have you noticed that there are always people like you? And they’re still waiting. The ones who have escaped the ranks of the unemployed are the ones who took the initiative to move, update their job skills, or both. It really is that simple. The only thing easier is walking around naked all day.

Helpful Employment Links:

http://www.doleta.gov/layoff/workers.cfm

http://www.educationmoney.com/