Spain Getting Tough
An imam who wrote a book on how to beat your wife without leaving marks on her body has been ordered by a judge in Spain to study the country's constitution.
Yep, that'll get it.
Same Old Song and Dance
In Dayton Ohio or Portland Maine
On a cotton gin out on the great high plains
That's done closed down along with the school
And the hospital and the swimming pool
Dust devils dance in the noonday heat
There's rats in the alley, and trash in the street
Gang graffiti on a boxcar door
We can't make it here anymore
-We Can't Make it Here
James McMurtry
Am I in a time warp? Who is president? FDR? Jimmy Carter? What's the unemployment rate - 13%? 15%? I thought we were doing pretty well, but obviously a lot of people are hurting out there.
I love
McMurtry's music, and I don't even mind the occasional protest song - in the vein of the 60's "The Man (yep, that's me) is keeping me down". But come on. Find something else, dude. We've all got jobs now, man. You're being very un-dude.
Racism. Women and the poor hit the hardest. Evil corporations. Starving children. Dirty water. Dirty Air. Dirty laundry. War - what is it good for?
It's amazing how the liberals never change their tune.
And in the "That's Not News" category...
"My biggest mistake was not recognizing by Saturday [Aug. 27] that Louisiana was
dysfunctional"
U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd formally announced Wednesday that he will
seek a record ninth term in the Senate.
"Rumors supplanted accurate information and
media magnified the problem. Rapes, violence and estimates of the dead were wrong."
You Got What You Wanted, Now Choke On It
Libertarians are the only adherents to a political philosophy to have their own party. The Libertarian Party must, for the most part, be faithful to it's namesake. This purity is great for the faithful, as they never have to deal with policies that fly completely in the face of their philosophy. It is also why they will never hold power.
The Republican and Democrat Parties, on the other hand, are all about holding power. They adhere to no political philosophy, though the Republicans are considered primarily conservative and the Democrats liberal. However, both parties are full of people of both persuasions and "moderates" who might vote for tougher border enforcement and amnesty in the same week.
Adherents to conservative or liberal philosophies are destined to be disappointed by their parties time and again, as I am today. President Bush is
offering the military to take the lead in disaster response here at home. Well, Rush has long said that the liberals view the military as an overblown "Meals on Wheels". But wait, Bush is a conservative, right?
Okay liberal whiners, here you go. You wanted the feds to take the lead in disaster response, you got it. I don't want to hear any bitching in Berkeley when the 3rd Infantry Division comes rolling in after your next earthquake.
Hurricane Rita vs. Hurricane Katrina
Order. That is the marked difference in the scenes from Rita and Katrina. Orderly evacuations, orderly protection of property, orderly restoration of services, and an orderly return to homes will soon follow. What is the reason for this? Is it because FEMA and President Bush learned their lesson? Is it because the military was involved early? No. It is due to the competence and diligence of
local officials, who had a plan and executed it. It is also due to a phrase that liberals react to like "state's rights", and that is "personal responsibility". People took steps to take care of themselves and did so early.
The Federal Government is good at a very few things. In the realm of responding to disasters, one is logistics, due to massive resources and a first-class military that can spring into action when necessary. The other is throwing obscene amounts of money at any problem. If you are expecting (or, worse, depending on) more than that when the shit comes down, don't be surprised when you are standing on your roof waiving your arms.
Every now and then
Every now and then, not often mind you, but now and then you see a story that gives you hope that the entire world hasn't gone mad. Here are some stories in contrast to the Democrat's dismal failure in New Orleans. Yeah, the Democrats. Who have been running New Orleans and Louisiana all my life.
Major Victory For Firearms Owners And Freedom In LouisianaThe United States District Court for the Eastern District in Louisiana today sided with the National Rifle Association (NRA) and issued a restraining order to bar further gun confiscations from peaceable and law-abiding victims of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.
And a lesson from some Texans on how to deal with looters
http://www.blogsofwar.com/looters_strike_in_advance_of_ritaAnd this story on how the
government should deal with looters
Police: Looters arrested in The HeightsThere is still sanity left in the world. Thank God I live amongst it.
Roberts Confirmation
The power of the Federal Government (and I mean all three branches) has become so overarching that everything is a political issue - even natural disasters. The Roberts confirmation to the Supreme Court is also a political issue. Even though the court, and the judicial branch as a whole, was created to be insulated from political pressures. However, the left has used the courts to advance parts of their agenda that they cannot get passed through federal or state legislatures. Therefore, any appointment is highly political.
It is my belief that judges should be confirmed based on qualifications alone, not on any forecasting on how they might rule on specific, or even general, questions before the court. To realize how far we have gone consider these excerpts from one story on the judiciary committee's vote on Roberts:
"I think he has a real sense for building consensus," said
Specter.
Biden said while he did not doubt Roberts' qualifications for the job, as a representative of the American people he could not vote for Roberts without knowing more about his stance on the right to privacy.
"I knew as little about what Judge Roberts really thought about issues after the hearings as I did before the hearing. This makes it very hard for me," she [Feinstein] said.
"It may turn out that he will be an outstanding chief justice but I can't say with confidence that I know on a sufficient number of constitutional issues how he will rule or what his position is," said the former presidential hopeful [Kerry]. "I still find that something essential is missing - a genuine exchange of information and exchange of ideas."
So, this is where we have come. A Supreme Court Justice must
build consensus? He must have stances on issues, and be open to an exchange of ideas? What ever happened to interpreting and applying the law?
