Duane S White .com
Common sense conservatismTreating the symptom
The recent tragedy in Newtown Connecticut which killed 6 adults and 20 children has caused yet another knee-jerk reaction by many people quick to blame the gun and the NRA. Every since that day people have tried to lay blame at the feet of the NRA claiming that the organization has blood on its hands . I’ve got news for them; Planned Parenthood has them beat by several million. I find it ironic that people will scream and cry about the tragic death of 20 children, yet are perfectly o.k. with the almost three thousand abortions that are performed EVERY DAY in the United States. Abortion rights advocates will argue that it’s not a fair comparison since it’s not actually a life that is being ended during an abortion. If it’s not a life, then why are they so adamantly opposed to requiring an ultra-sound before the procedure can be performed. I can’t help but wonder if they would feel differently if the procedure were carried out with a gun. The result is the same.
Instead of blaming an inanimate object for these deaths, and others, it’s time we took an honest look at the culture that allows people to hold life in such little regard. If life isn’t of any value at ten weeks, why is it suddenly of value at 10 years, or 20 years?
It’s not a stretch to believe that a culture which has driven Christian values from public life could be responsible for creating the type of people that could walk into a school or a movie theater and murder people in cold blood. People are often offended when they see the 10 commandments posted in a public place, yet 6 of those 10 commandments have nothing to do with God. They are principles of living a decent and moral life. Maybe telling kids “thou shall not kill” isn’t such a bad idea. If you’re offended by that, are you offended when 20 kids are murdered in your “politically correct” public schools?
In the void created from driving God from our society, we now find a pop culture that celebrates death and destruction. When teenagers will wait for days outside the electronics store to buy the latest violent video game, we have effectively turned death into a sporting event. Gone are the days when the most popular video game on the market was a big monkey throwing barrels down a ladder. Now you get points based on how many people you kill. Yeah, we have a video game rating system these days designed to prevent young kids from buying these games, but all too many parents don’t think twice about getting one for their child’s birthday or Christmas present. After all, it’s a cheap babysitter so that the parents can watch American Idol without being bothered by the kids. In an insane bit of ‘logic’, Comic-book author Gerard Jones actually argues that bloody video games, gun-glorifying rap and other forms of ‘creative violence’ are actually good for kids and helps them “master their rage”. Maybe instead of getting rid of the 10 commandments, society would be better off without the works of Mr. Jones and others like him who’s only real interest is in mastering their bank account.
Sadly, not too many people are interesting in taking an honest look at the REAL REASONS behind tragedies like the one in Colorado or, Portland Oregon the other day, and now yet another shooting in Connecticut. It’s far easier to blame an inanimate object, thereby excusing society from having to make any significant changes or taking responsibility for creating the culture where such things happen. Instead, the anti-gun nuts will use this event as another excuse to push for more gun control laws which have no more hope of solving the problem than drug control laws have stopped the flow of drugs. Having treated the symptom, the disease rages on unabated.
Musin’ on Sunday Morning – Nov 25, 2012
A few reflective thoughts on the week that was:
Here’s hoping that everyone had a great Thanksgiving holiday.
If you happened to travel through Los Angeles around the holiday, maybe you saw the SEIU thugs on strike and slowing down traffic to and from the airport while they protested for better pay and benefits. Not sure I understand the logic behind that. “Hey, let’s inconvenience a whole bunch of people on one of the busiest travel days of the year in order to get their sympathy and support”.
I didn’t know this, but according to journalism professor Robert Jensen of the University of Texas in Austin, Thanksgiving is a white-supremacist holiday and the founding fathers shared the same political views as Nazis. I don’t know about you, but it freaks me out that guys like this are responsible for educating the next generation of Americans. I wonder how many of his former students now work for MSNBC
Jesse Jackson Jr. resigned from congress this week due, in part, to health problems. I’m sure that being investigated by the government for misuse of campaign funds influenced his decision to step down just after being reelected. An expected plea deal likely would have included Jackson’s resignation. Leaving early will allow him to keep his congressional pension, even though he may be spending the money from a jail cell. The United States is $16 trillion in debt, but we’ve still got money to pay disgraced congressmen a pension. Maybe that’s one of the places we should be looking to save a few coins.
Some people are not all that worried about saving money though. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner has now proposed completely eliminating the federal government’s debt limit, giving them the ability to spend as much money as they want. Members of congress are already planning that. The House Minority Whip, Steny Hoyer, has said: “The fact is, we don’t need a budget. We can adopt appropriations bills”. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is on board the crazy train as well. “We do not need to bring a budget to the floor this year”. Don’t try this at home folks. Can you imagine not having to worry about how much money you put on your credit card because there is no limit? Don’t worry about it, you’re kids can pay for it… someday.
No nation in history has ever spent and taxed their way into prosperity, but this group seems determined to try, and a bunch of people are lining up to cash in. Assorted labor unions, civil rights and anti-poverty groups, seeking to have unemployment benefits extended, received a shot of confidence this week when Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said stimulus measures should be included in any deficit-reduction package. What? Spend more to reduce the deficit? It reminds me of Joe Biden saying that we need to spend more money to keep from going bankrupt. Now, ‘smart guy’ economist Paul Krugman has weighed in calling for a 91% tax rate on the ‘rich’ to pay for it all.
In watching all this, I’m reminded of the 1992 move “Batman Returns”. Remember Danny DeVito’s line when he is in control of the Batmobile by remote? “Hey just relax, I’ll take care of the squealing wretched pinhead puppets of Gotham. You gotta admit, I played this stinking city like a harp from Hell!“
Folks, this is what happens when people who have no ‘real world’ experience keep getting elected. They’ve spent most of their lives in academia or Washington D.C. and have no idea how the rest of America lives. The only time they have any contact the people they claim to represent is when they’re trying to get their vote. This is nothing new though. What never ceases to amaze me is that people keep voting for more of the same. I read the other day that the top 5 states to be hit the hardest by the coming 2013 tax increases all supported Obama for reelection. You wanted it… now you’re going to get it.
In other news, Police in Port St. Lucie Florida say a woman who is charged with reckless driving and speeding told officers that “the Lord” told her to drive 100mph in a 30mph zone. No word yet if the Lord is going to help her pay the fine, or bail her out of jail. She could be telling the truth though, as there have been some miracles in Port St. Lucie lately. According to some sources, 141% of registered voters cast a ballot in the last election. Not sure how that happens without some ‘help’.
I’m glad to see that common sense wins the day somewhere in the world, this time in the most unlikely of places. San Francisco, like Portland Oregon, is one of those cities that take a certain degree of pride in being “weird”, but even in whacky town, sometimes enough is enough. Apparently they’ve had enough of people walking around town in the buff. In a 6-5 vote, the Board of Supervisors chose to ban nudity on public streets, sidewalks and public transit. Speaking for the dissenting members, Supervisor John Avalos said, “We’re a beacon of light to other parts of the country, and sometimes there’s a little bit of weirdness about how we express ourselves.” It’s nice to know that light will now shine a little less bright.
Now if we could just get some common sense in Washington D.C.
To impeach, or not to impeach: It’s the wrong question.
Every since the election, and actually even before, I’ve been seeing comments from conservatives on Facebook, Twitter and elsewhere about the need to impeach Barack Obama. A comparison of Watergate and Benghazi is being used to support this action. After all, Nixon was not going to be impeached for the Watergate break-in itself, but rather for the cover up and obstruction of justice that followed.
O.k., there are some legitimate comparisons here. It remains unclear if the White House could have prevented the attack on our people in Libya, or even if they could have rescued them in time. What is clear is that the American people were lied to about what really happened, why the attack happened, and who was responsible. The biggest difference in what happened during Watergate and Benghazi is that no one died as a result of anything Nixon did, or didn’t do. Those are the facts.
Now let’s acknowledge some more facts. There is no way Barack Obama will ever be impeached for anything he did, or didn’t do, in relation to Benghazi, or anything else.
In 1998, when the House of Representatives voted to impeach Bill Clinton for perjury and obstruction of justice, they were unable to get even a simple majority vote in the Senate to convict Clinton on the Articles of Impeachment, even though republicans held a 55 seat majority. They needed 12 democrats to cross party lines and vote to convict. They didn’t get it. In fact, not even all 55 republicans supported impeachment and EVERY democrat voted “not guilty”.
Now, going into 2013, democrats will hold 55 seats in a Senate controlled by Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada. There is a better chance that Martians will land on the south lawn of the White House than there is of impeaching this president. So the question is not “should we impeach Barack Obama. Rather, the question is: “Can we impeach Barack Obama”? Since the answer is clearly a “NO”, let’s stop wasting time even thinking about it.
The simple fact is this: Elections have consequences and Barack Obama is going to be President until 2016, and there is little to nothing that conservatives can do about it. Too many republican voters sat out this past election. If Mitt Romney had been able to garner as many votes as John McCain did in 2008, then we’d have ourselves a new president in January.
The only thing conservatives can do now is try to find a way to slow down Barack Obama’s extreme leftist agenda. In 2014 there will be 33 senate seats up for grabs. 13 of those seats are currently held by republicans in what should be relatively “safe” seats. The other 20 are held by democrats, many of which are in states carried by Mitt Romney: Alaska, Arkansas, Louisiana, Montana, North Carolina, South Dakota and West Virginia. If republican can pick up those 8 seats, they will be able to take control of the Senate for the two remaining years of the Obama administration.
There are four primary reasons why winning back the Senate in 2014 should be the primary focus of the Republican Party: Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer. Of those four Supreme Court Justices, Stephen Breyer is the youngest at 74. Scalia and Kennedy are both 76 and Ginsburg will be 80 in March. While the possibility exists that Obama may still get to appoint one or more judges to the Supreme Court, at least if republicans are in control of the Senate, we will have a voice in what kind of justices make it to the bench.
Now, can we forget any ideas of impeachment? It didn’t work out for us very well the last time we tried it.
Musin’ on Sunday Morning – Nov 18, 2012
A few reflective thoughts on the week that was:
On his radio show the day after the election, Rush Limbaugh is quoted as saying that he went to bed thinking “We’ve lost the country”. Judging by the level of insanity on display this week, he may have been right.
Over 18,000 people at Hostess will no longer have a job because a few greedy people in the Bakers union hijacked the company. They couldn’t get what they want out of a struggling company, so now everyone who worked there is now going to suffer. Can’t help but ponder the possibility that Michele Obama paid off the unions to destroy Hostess in her war on obesity.
Some of the workers at Wal-Mart now want to see if they can do any better and a planning a strike on “Black Friday”, the biggest shopping day of the year. If they don’t like their job, maybe they should quit instead of trying to hold the company hostage. I’m not too worried about Wal-Mart going the way of Hostess though, simply because of the size of the company. Wal-Mart has also shown some signs that it knows how to deal with union thugs. Butchers at a Wal-Mart super center in Jacksonville, Texas, voted to form a union in 2000. Soon after that, Wal-Mart eliminated butcher departments in its stores across the country. Workers tried again to unionize a Quebec store in 2005 and Wal-Mart closed that store a few months later saying that its decision was prompted by the union wanting to change how the company operated. Sounds fair to me. People who own companies should be able to decide how those companies should run without being dictated to by union thugs who have no interest in profits… except their own. Message to unions: “You didn’t build that. Someone else made that happen.”
In a related item, did you hear that the Postal Service lost $16 billion in 2012? That’s more than three times the $5.1 billion they lost in the previous year. Most of that can be attributed to the strangle hold the union has on the Post Office. Some of that is also SERIOUS mismanagement. Despite losing $16 billion, all but one of the top five executive for the post office got a substantial pay raise this year. Postmaster General Patrick Donohoe made $512,093 this year compared with $384,229 in 2011, according to regulatory filings. That’s a $127,000 raise in one year. The Bakers union at Hostess would be PISSED.
Just when I thought people couldn’t get any dumber, MSNBC comes along and provides an example of someone who can. Host Melissa Harris-Perry and guests reviewed the declining portion of the electorate made up by white voters and asked her panel about “ the demise of the white man.” Nancy Giles of CBS, who is African-American, had this to say: “It’s been weird to watch white people report on this. Maybe that’s why they’re trying to eliminate all these abortions and stuff. They’re trying to build up the race.”
Ignoring the blatant racism in that comment, Giles must know that African-American babies are the ones who most suffer with the abortion business? In New York City alone, as many as 60 percent of black pregnancies end in abortion. Controlling the black population was in fact the reason that Margaret Sanger founded Planned Parenthood. I’m betting that Ms Giles doesn’t know that and it reminds me of a couple of important quotes:
“The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge.” -Stephen Hawking
Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. – Romans 1:22
Speaking of fools, you might have seen the thousands of people camped out in tents last weekend in Los Angeles waiting to catch the premier of the last movie in the Twilight Saga, “Breaking Dawn Part 2. It was reported that some people came from as far away as England to pitch tents and geek out in the cold. Hey, here’s an idea: Wait a week or so and the lines will be gone. No movie is worth camping out in a freakin’ tent. Even better, wait 6 months and catch it on video at home. You can sit on the couch and eat Twinkies while watching your stupid movie. Oops, no Twinkies thanks to the bakers union. Nice job, boys. Update: The latest information on Hostess is that a Mexican company may be buying up the assets and moving the whole thing south of the border. Your new and improved Twinkie will be coming from Mexico, adding even more to the trade deficit. NAFTA has worked out so well for us. NOT !!
Now that the Twinkies are gone it looks like the animal rights group, PETA, is taking a shot at your Thanksgiving dinner plans. They’ve put up a “go vegan” billboard in L.A. showing a dog’s head on a turkey’s body. The caption reads, “Kids, if you wouldn’t eat your dog, why eat a turkey?” My answer: “Turkey’s taste better.” By the way, some people in the world do eat dogs. Maybe PETA should ask Barack Obama about that.
Another company that may soon be in trouble is British Petroleum. The Justice Department announced on Thursday that BP has agreed to pay another $4.5 billion in government penalties. To date, BP has paid $42 billion in fines stemming from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
Maybe the government is planning to use the money to bail out the postal service and give Patrick Donohoe another $100,000 raise.
And a final thought on the pending “fiscal cliff”. Obama has said he supports a ‘balanced approach to America’s fiscal crisis. Not sure what he thinks the word ‘balance’ means. I hear democrats talking a lot about the need for ‘increased revenue’, but I’ve not heard anything about where they intend to cut, except the military. I’ll have an informative post on that topic coming this week. It will shock and maybe even offend you.
Here’s my two cents on the fiscal crisis. I’ll agree to go back to the Clinton era tax rates, provided the democrats would agree to go back to the same spending levels. Don’t hold your breath.
More insanity to come next week.
Duane S White .com 