What Is A Right?

So what is a right? I believe the best definition of a right comes from Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence. In that document, Jefferson used the word unalienable, which means "it can't be taken away". Prior to his use of the word unalienable, he wrote "endowed by their Creator", which of course means that rights are not granted by men, but by God, by nature. In other words, we are born with "rights". Rights are not granted by governments or legislation, but instead are "natural". Jefferson also stated that "all men are created equal", which means that natural rights apply to all, and in the Creator's view, every one is endowed with the same rights. So obviously, health care can not be considered a right. It may be something that our society decides that we should grant as a gift, but it can never be considered a right. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are rights, but nothing that requires the labor of another can be considered a right. We have the right to pursue health care, assuming that makes us happy. But no man has the right to the labor of another. To grant health care to people who can not pay for it, requires force and coercion. It either requires that money be taken from the "haves", at the point of a gun, and redistributed to the "have nots", or it requires that doctors and nurses, and various health care professionals, be forced to labor for the benefit of others. In the nineteenth century, we called that slavery, and fought a bloody Civil War to end it. So no, health care is not a right. It is a gift. We, as a country, need to re-learn the definition of a "right". We have become so dependent in this country, that we believe we are entitled to anything and everything. We are not. We have traded our liberty, our true rights, away for dependence. Hopefully though, there are enough of us left who choose liberty over security. I believe there is.

The Ground Zero Mosque

I'm watching these left wing pundits wrap themselves in the First Amendment, and I almost want to throw up. The American left doesn't give a rat's ass about the Constitution. The Constitution, in their view, is garbage because it limits the power of government and it affirms the rights of individuals. The American left is all about the state, not the individual. That's why they want to limit our exposure to talk radio (1st Amendment), and seek to limit political speech (1st Amendment) by certain groups that they despise.

So excuse me if their sudden affinity for the First Amendment causes me to puke. What I am specifically talking about, of course, is the Mosque that is being planned near Ground Zero. These leftists go on these programs and immediately start talking about Freedom of Religion. They do this, in spite of the fact that nobody, and I mean nobody, is saying that Muslims do not have a right to worship. They don't have a right to build a house of worship anywhere they want though. Any building, be it a religious building, a home, or a business, is subject to local ordinances and building codes. Apparently, the group that plans on building this Mosque, has already jumped through those bureaucratic hurdles, and has gotten permission from the city to move forward.

So the issue here, is not whether they have the right to do so. Nobody is saying that they do not. The issue here is whether they should. Can we not express an opinion on this without being lectured on the First Amendment? I mean seriously, for just once, can we maybe have an intelligent conversation with you people?

The building of this Mosque is a provocative act. It is a huge purposeful show of disrespect. It is divisive. If they want to build that Mosque, and if the cities zoning authorities are allowing them to do so, then they certainly have a right to build it. But that doesn't mean they should. We have a right to do a lot of things. We can scream the N word and even deny the Holocaust. We can do a lot of things, but we don't because we have class and we respect the sensitivities of others. Apparently the individuals building this Mosque, do not care about those things.

Why We Celebrate on July 4th

I took great pleasure this morning in attempting to explain to my five year old, what the fourth of July is all about and why we celebrate it. While my son was somewhat confused and amused by the idea of calling a signature a "John Hancock", I am quite confident that he went to church this morning with a better understanding of our nation's birth than many adults. 

Sending a reporter out to ask people on the street what the fourth of July is all about, would be a frightening endeavor. I almost hope that nobody ever does it. I imagine though that if it were done, we would hear all kinds of answers, anywhere from "the day we won our independence", to something to do with our constitution. But we all know that July fourth was not the day that independence was won, but merely declared. 

The signers of the Declaration of Independence were not loyal believers in the power of government and how it could be used to help people. Quite the contrary, these men were anti-government, anti-taxes, and most importantly anti-dependence. In a radio interview, the modern day leader of a different philosophy discussed the Constitution by lamenting the fact that it was a charter of what he called "negative liberties". In other words, it stated what government could not do to you, but it didn't state what it could do for you. The framers of that document, obviously, had a different view than that individual in the interview. Realizing that the same men responsible for the Constitution took part in the declaration, and knowing that the declaration provided the framework for the Constitution, it would not be too far of a reach to assume that the same individual, the leader of modern liberalism, also laments the fact that the declaration was one of independence, and not dependence.

That word independence is important. It has to do with individualism, liberty, and the right of mankind to pursue happiness. Independence is what America is all about. Individual independence is exactly why America has prospered. There is no such thing as American nationalism. The word nationalism comes from nation, and in this case, the word nation does not mean country but nationality. America is a melting pot, a nation of immigrants/ foreigners. The is no American race, so you can't attribute the success of this country to any kind of racial superiority. No this nation prospered and became the most powerful on earth, simply because of it's freedom. If modern regulation were in effect in the nineteenth century, there would never have been a railroad. Carnegie would have never found a cheaper way to make steel. Rockefeller would have never been able to sell oil so cheaply. These men became rich and made countless other Americans rich, simply because they were free. 

A true American doesn't want help from government. Liberty loving Americans know that any help from Washington is not really help at all, but a means of control. Americans, the ones who share the same spirit of those who signed the declaration, don't like to be controlled. They will take liberty over security any day. Those are the kind of people that signed the declaration, and they are the same kind of people that came to this country from every part of the world, Europe, Asia, Africa.

The other day, a Supreme Court nominee, dismissed the declaration as unimportant. This same future Supreme Court Justice most likely shares the same philosophy as the gentleman in the aforementioned radio interview. How far has our nation regressed when a nominee for the highest court in the land dismisses the Declaration of Independence? People, the declaration is everything. Lincoln used the declaration as the template for the Gettysburg address. The declaration, and the ideals in it, were the reason this country got rid of that wretched system known as slavery, less than a century after it's birth. The declaration affirms our natural rights, rights not granted to us by any government, but by our Creator.

When this country and it's people forget about the declaration and forget about what it truly means, we are in trouble. Now is the time to remind and re-learn the founding of this country, why it happened, and what they were fighting for. I fear that we have already forgotten these things. I fear that some immigrate to this country, not because of it's freedoms, but because of it's gifts. They seek dependence and not independence. 

Some however, still know why this country is great, and they are fighting to keep it great. Some people still come here because of our liberal freedoms, not our handouts. They love this country and dream of a life in the only place on earth where even the poor are not hungry.

When you celebrate today, think about the courage it took for those men to sign that declaration, a treasonous document. Remember the brashness of John Hancock, who wrote his name bigger than anybody else. That's what America is all about folks. God bless it. 

Just A Little Time Is All

My five year old son Frank, is a pretty fortunate fellow. He has all kinds of "stuff" to play with. Not only that, but with a forty year old dad, his upbringing is, to put it mildly, somewhat laid back. He still tends to get bored though.

Tonight, after a long rainy day of staying inside and playing video games, he was allowed to watch a little TV in bed. On my way to my own bedroom, I decided I'd drop in a catch a few minutes of Spongebob with him. His reaction to this rare visit was something else. He was extremely excited to have me in his room watching cartoons with him. He even went out of his way to explain the episode to me. The whole thing really got me to thinking.

As I sat in his room staring at several hundred dollars worth of toys, I realized that while all of that stuff was nice, it in no way compared to just a few minutes of my time.

Like most parents, I work hard and often use the excuse of being too tired to spend time with my son. What a huge failure on my part!

We live in the most technologically advanced age in history. We pretty much have it all. But even with all of this "stuff", all of these advances, nothing means more to a little boy than a few minutes with his daddy. It's good to be reminded of that sometimes.

HealthCare Bill Passage Will Be Historic Tragedy

President Obama, this weekend, said that the passage of Healthcare will be a historic event in American history. He is right. If this disaster passes, it will be historic, just like the trail of tears was historic, or Plessy v. Fergesun was historic. Being historic, or as he puts it, being “transformative”, is not always a good thing. There is such a thing as bad history.

This healthcare bill is more than a disaster. It is a mindless tragedy. It does absolutely nothing the President claims it does. First off, it imposes an unconstitutional mandate on American citizens. Secondly, it burdens the states with a huge unfunded mandate, one that can only be paid for with higher state taxes or services cut in other areas. Taxes will be raised on individuals, and also businesses. Medicare will be cut, and Medicaid will be expanded, which means that doctors will be reimbursed by these government entities even less than they already are, forcing them to either make up the cost on the rest of us, or deny care to old and poor people. This thing is an absolute disaster. There is no other way to put it.

Any honest constitutional scholar will tell you that, not only is a mandate to buy health insurance unprecedented, but it is also unconstitutional. Never before has the Federal government required you to purchase a product simply because you were breathing. That is not liberty folks. It is tyranny. Congress simply does not have the power to require an individual to enter into a contract with another. The backers of this idea always mention the states and their mandates to buy car insurance. First off, we are talking about states and not the federal government. I realize that many of you do not believe in the concept of federalism. Hell, many of you don't believe in a lot of constitutional concepts. But the framers of our constitution did. Also, there is quite a bit of difference in requiring a driver of a car to be insured, than there is in requiring somebody to purchase insurance simply because they were born. You don't have to own and drive a car. That is a choice, and it is done on roads owned by the states. As far as I can tell though, breathing is a requirement of living.

We here in Tennessee, better than anybody else, know what happens when you expand Medicaid and make it attractive for employers to drop their benefits and allow the “government” to take over. Remember TennCare? How did that work out for you Tennessee? How is Medicaid expansion working out in Massachusetts? They say the states are laboratories, but obviously not in this case. Forcing all of the states to adopt TennCare is mindlessly idiotic. It is senseless. Many of these states are already in deep trouble. Now the federal government is going to pose another burden on them. Unbelievable!

The only way that the states will be able to fund this national TennCare program is through higher taxes. But not only will we face higher taxes from our state governments. We will also see an increase in the tax on capital gains. Yes that's right. In a time of high unemployment and stagnant economic growth, our government is going to raise the tax on capital gains. But wait, it gets better. Remember how those evil insurance companies, that make (gasp!) those huge two percent profits, remember how they charge us too much for insurance. Well guess what, they are going to be taxed too. Think about the stupidity of government logic here for a minute. The government is complaining about the cost of insurance, so the government is going to raise taxes on insurance companies.  ARE PEOPLE REALLY THIS STUPID?

Caterpillar recently stated that the Healthcare bill would cost their company an extra $100 million a year. And some of you still believe that the President gives a rat's ass about jobs. Are you people even able to feed yourselves? I mean seriously, is the forty percent that support this idiocy out there on the roads with the rest of us? God help us if they are.

So basically, this bill is going to increase the cost of doing business, which will either cause higher unemployment, lower wages, or an increase in the price of the products being produced. Either way you look at it, that means less money in our pockets. It is going to raise capital gains taxes, which will depress jobs and decrease wages. It will force health insurance companies to raise premiums to account for increased taxes. But wait, there is more costs hidden in this disaster.

More people will be forced into Medicaid, and Medicare will be cut. Will they take these benefits from old people? No of course not. What they will do is reimburse doctors less. How does that affect us, you might ask? Well the doctors have to make that money up somewhere don’t they? Look for the costs of healthcare, for the rest of us, to increase quite rapidly.

So basically, not only does this healtcare bill do nothing the President claims it will do, it actually does the exact opposite. It really is nothing but a government take over. There is not even a short term benefit. I really don’t see how anybody could support this embarrassment. It just doesn’t make any sense, but socialism never does.

Life Begins At 40

For the last couple of weeks I have intended to write a post about the milestone of my fortieth birthday. It is a particularly important event for me, since my father never lived to see this age, and my brother died shortly thereafter, both of colon cancer. There was a time when I didn't expect to see this age either, but it wasn't because I feared cancer. No I suffered from a completely different kind of sickness, a sickness of the mind called addiction. I didn't just expect to die young. I actually cried out to God and begged Him to take me. No I wasn't suicidal. I didn't have that much courage.

But drugs were never my problem. They were merely a symptom. My problems were much deeper. What I suffered from was insecurity and fear, an irrational self-centeredness. Everything about this world scared the hell out of me. My only way to deal with this fear was to play the part of the clown, and to be the life of the party. I became popular and made lots of friends, but I never felt like I measured up.

I made it through college, but school was always easy for me. It's participating and competing out in the real world that troubled me. I was too afraid to succeed, so I didn't participate. When my friends were getting married, buying homes, and excelling in their careers, I was going nowhere. However, I did make several trips to the city jail.

I won't bore you anymore with my story, but I will say that at the age of thirty, I decided to "grow up". I joined the rat race, married a beautiful girl, had a son, and later bought a home. I even went back to school and earned my Masters degree, at night of course.

I have changed quite a bit in the last ten years, but who hasn't? I have calmed down considerably. Having a child kind of does that to you, I think. I am much more tolerant of others and less prone to losing my temper than I used to be. My negative mental attitude has mostly been changed to a positive outlook. But most of all I have changed the way I view myself.

I don't beat myself up the way I did in the past. When I mess up, and I often do, I cut myself some slack. When others criticize me, I am able to accept their criticism and consider it, as opposed to stomping off angrily and cursing about their shortcomings. I like myself these days, and because of that, I am able to be a better friend to others. I am able to not only love my enemies, but to forgive them and focus on whatever qualities they have that I admire. I have come to realize that people don't think about me as much as I once thought they did. They have their own problems and their own fears and insecurities. When they act out, it usually has nothing to do with me. They might just be having a bad day, and rather than be angry at them for hurting my precious little feelings, I should have compassion for what they might be going through.

Does life begin at forty? For me, the answer is yes. Rather than lamenting my age, I choose to embrace it and make a point to practice the wisdom that was given to me through my experiences. Yes life would have been much different had I known then what I know now. But I had to learn these things on my own, in my own way. My life, however difficult I chose to make it, had to be just as it was.

Yes I have learned a great deal and made much progress, but I am fully aware that I am not even close to having arrived. There is so much more to learn and so much more growth to be experienced. No, forty isn't old, not for a late bloomer like myself. It really is a beginning.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everybody.

Frankie's First Jack-o-lantern

I don't know where it came from. But for some reason, there was this really little and shabby looking pumpkin on my counter this afternoon. Even though I had never carved a pumpkin in my entire life, I thought "what the heck" and brought Frank in the kitchen and carved that sucker up. Now I know this is a really amateurish job of carving, but Frank loved it. Notice the mean face he's making. Happy Halloween!

Garcia and Grisman- "Ripple"

What a sweet song! It's definitely one of my favorite Dead tunes, performed here by Jerry and David. Of course, David actually played mandolin on the album version, featured on American Beauty. Excerpt of Robert Hunter's lyrics below.

Reach out your hand if your cup be empty,
If your cup is full may it be again,
Let it be known there is a fountain,
That was not made by the hands of men.

There is a road, no simple highway,
Between the dawn and the dark of night,
And if you go no one may follow,
That path is for your steps alone.

Enjoy!

T for Texas, T for Tennessee

Damn a bunch of sad posts. I just got off the phone with Sanna, and she is going to allow me to pick up Frank from daycare today. Today is her day, so it's her call, you know. I get to spend a couple of hours with him, before I head out to the Flying Saucer tonight to see my old nemesis/friend Brittney.

Yesterday, when I was sad, I was sitting around playing blues music. My mom, who was still here visiting, walked in and said, you need to put on some happy music. You don't need "no BB King" right now.

I took her advice and found this gem (embedded below) from Lynyrd Skynrd. The band is playing "T for Texas, T for Tennessee", also known as "Blue Yodel Number 9". It's an old song written and recorded by Jimmy Rodgers in the twenties. Of course Rodgers' version features an acoustic guitar, his voice, and last only a couple of minutes. What Skynyrd does to this tune is pretty amazing. They turned this country tune into a rocking blues jam, running about ten minutes, with three guitarists swapping solos. The star of the jam though, in my opinion, is guitarist Steve Gaines. What a talent and what a loss he was to the guitar world. By the way, Gaines is the one with the beard and the least amount of hair. Lots of hair in this clip. Let me warn you, the sound quality is not that good, and the video quality is even worse, but the jam is awesome. For a better quality video and sound, click here. The reason I chose the black and white one over the color one is simple. In the color version, the cameraman ignores Gaines, who is jamming his butt off, and instead follows around vocalist Ronnie Van Zandt, as if he as some type of crush on Ronnie. It really pisses me off. Rock and Roll ain't about singers, as far as I concerned. Rock and Roll is guitar music. Put the camera on the guitar, you dang idiot.

Anyway, notice what Ronnie says at the beginning of the video. "These intermissions in between songs, are brought to you by Budweiser, king of beers." Then bassist Leon Wilkerson remarks, "Not to mention Acapulco Gold". Heh!

Today Is the Big Day

No I am not talking about that stupid primary election. Today is my son Frank's third birthday. It is also the fifth anniversary of my brother's death. My brother was also named Frank, as was my late father. I had made the decision to name my son after my dad and brother when we first found out the baby was going to be a boy. It's just so cool that he came into the world on the same day my brother left the world. I think about my brother a lot, and also my dad. I wish Frank could have known both of them. But he will someday.

Definitely Not That Word I Am Tired Of Hearing

This rant by Southern Beale got me to thinking that maybe its time to write about how much I love women and why. SB's feelings about what I may or may not be do not really bother me that much. It's her point of view. I respect it.

But I am the farthest thing from someone who hates or dislikes women.

Let me tell you why. Unfortunately, my father died when I was ten. At that time, my brother was finishing up High School and soon after that, he would become married and join the Navy. That left me with my Mama, my sister, and my Aunt Mae, who lived right beside us. For the longest time, through my most selfish years, they may have been the only people I really cared anything about. They most certainly cared about me. That's for sure.

My mother grew up a lot differently than I did. Her mother wasn't anything like the mother she would later be. Now don't get me wrong. I loved my grandmother. But I know for a fact that she wasn't a great mother to my mom. But Mama was a great mom. I will never forget the night that daddy died. My mother held me in her arms while I cried saying "Be strong." Throughout my teen years, she did the best she could to steer me right. Like the song "Mama Tried", she certainly did her best, but I was a wild soul, still inwardly angry about my dad dying. Being shy, I naturally turned to outside substances to get me out of my shell and help me escape. Through all of that, she never stopped loving me. A lot of people gave up on me and wrote me off, but my Mama kept praying, even visiting me in jail. I will always be grateful to her for that. I don't tell her nearly as often as I should.

I was also fortunate to have a good sister. Penny was five years older than me, so she didn't live with us too much longer after my dad died. But she was always around and always looking after me. I remember a specific incident at a football game. She was a majorette in the band and I was always getting into fights behind the bleachers. One Friday night a much older and bigger kid was getting ready to give me a whuppin'. I probably deserved it, by the way. But that didn't matter to Penny. She came out of the stands where the band was sitting and started waving that baton at the big kid's face, threatening him. I was so embarrassed that my sister had rescued me. But deep down I really appreciated it. It showed how much she loved her little brother. Like my mom, she also never gave up on me during the bad times.

Now I want to tell you all about my Aunt Mae. Last November she turned eighty-eight. She is actually my great aunt. There are probably a lot of people who would put her on a list like this. Words can't express how much I love that woman. She has always been so good to me. As a kid, I probably spent as much time at her house as I did my own. She loved and still does love to cook for me. Her and I used to pick blackberries together for blackberry cobbler and jam. She is a very religious person, though not very educated. Being born in 1919, and being poor, education wasn't a priority for her as a little girl. She always talked about how she wished she could have had the opportunities to learn that I had. More than she will ever know, she had a lot of influence in me taking advantage of those opportunities. She also taught me to love animals. She calls them "God's creatures". I am thirty-eight years old and she still sends me a check on my birthday and buys me candy on Valentines and Easter. It might sound funny, but that means so much to me. It always puts a smile on my face.

Finally, I want to talk about my wife Sanna, the most beautiful woman in the world. I really don't know why God blessed me with such a prize as Sanna. I certainly did not do anything to deserve her. She has such a sweet and caring heart. She always encourages me. When we first met, she saw something in me that I didn't know was there. She is not very materialistic at all. She doesn't care for jewelry or nice clothes. All she wants is to spend the rest of her life with me. She is also a great mother. She isn't perfect by any means and neither am I, but she is close enough for me. February will mark our fourth year as husband and wife, and I am still just as much in love with her now as I was when we first started dating. I still can't take my eyes off of her.

No I don't dislike women. I love women very much. But there is no doubt that men and women are different. If recognizing that makes me a sexist, then so be it. We are still equal though, but we are way, way different. Thank goodness for that.

The Problem with Populists

George Will on the Populists:

Like Job after losing his camels and acquiring boils, the conservative movement is in distress. Mike Huckabee shreds the compact that has held the movement's two tendencies in sometimes uneasy equipoise. Social conservatives, many of whom share Huckabee's desire to "take back this nation for Christ," have collaborated with limited-government, market-oriented, capitalism-defending conservatives who want to take back the nation for James Madison. Under the doctrine that conservatives call "fusion," each faction has respected the other's agenda. Huckabee aggressively repudiates the Madisonians.

Indeed. I highly suggest you read the rest of the article. Will nails it, and as for that shrinking middle class.

Economist Stephen Rose, defining the middle class as households with annual incomes between $30,000 and $100,000, says a smaller percentage of Americans are in that category than in 1979 -- because the percentage of Americans earning more than $100,000 has doubled from 12 to 24, while the percentage earning less than $30,000 is unchanged. "So," Rose says, "the entire 'decline' of the middle class came from people moving up the income ladder."

Heh! Reality and truth are often populisms biggest enemies.

My First Trip To Starbucks

I had ridden by the place several times over the years, but never dared to enter it's walls. It seemed like a different world, a different culture. I wasn't really that curious about the place though. I don't like coffee and my stereotype of the type of person known to hang out in there was quite unappealing.

But then it happened. My wife and I had a little bit of time to kill yesterday afternoon and she asked me to do the unthinkable. She asked me to go with her to Starbucks. I initially refused vehemently. There was no way that I would be caught dead in that place. Not only that, but surely the patrons would figure out that I was an outsider and demand that I leave, perhaps even refusing to serve me. She insisted that I come though, saying that she really wanted to see me in there.

Upon entering, my stereotype was quickly verified. Right there on a piece of living room furniture was "pony-tail guy" reading a book. At one table were these two thin, neat looking, young men. They looked like they were really close friends, really close. A few of the people in there actually had textbooks. Some were wearing those really small eyeglasses, the kind Brittney Gilbert wears. Some people were reading and some were having discussions, but I don't think any of them were talking about who they were going to vote for in the Republican Primary. I knew right away that I didn't belong there. I wanted to leave. My lovely wife could see how I was feeling. She was quite amused.

After ordering, we sat down and I inquired about this strange culture. I couldn't believe that a business survived by selling coffee and having people come in, sit down and talk to each other. She became irritated with my wanting to leave and said that we had nothing in common. I agreed and then reminded her of how that was a good thing. "Would you really want to be with me if I was the type of guy that hung out in Starbucks?", I asked. "I guess not," she said.

Finally she finished her coffee and I got out of there, never to return again.

Huckabee, The Leader Of The Christian Left

Finally, a conservative pundit is attacking the campaign of Mike Huckabee.
Bob Novak writes:

Who would respond to criticism from the Club for Growth by calling the conservative, free-market campaign organization the "Club for Greed"? That sounds like Howard Dean, Dennis Kucinich or John Edwards, all Democrats preaching the class struggle. In fact, the rejoinder comes from Mike Huckabee, who has broken out of the pack of second-tier Republican presidential candidates to become a serious contender -- definitely in Iowa and perhaps nationally. Huckabee is campaigning as a conservative, but serious Republicans know that he is a high-tax, protectionist, big-government advocate of a strong hand in the Oval Office directing the lives of Americans.

Novak is right. Huckabee is no conservative. He is a big spending, bleeding heart liberal. Sure he may be "socially conservative", but that term is an oxymoron.

In fact, anytime the word social is put in front of the word conservative, just go ahead and cross out the conservative part, because the politician in question surely isn't one. Huckabee is a disaster. In fact he is even less conservative than George Bush, the President who expanded government even more than Lyndon Johnson.

Huckabee, Guiliani, no this isn't your father's Republican Party. It might be your father's Democratic Party, which by the way, looks quite conservative compared to today's Democrats.

Novak sums up the evolution of the Republican Party with this statement:

The rise of evangelical Christians as the motive force that blasted the GOP out of minority status during the past generation always contained an inherent danger if these new Republican acolytes supported not merely a conventional conservative but one of their own.
The danger is a serious contender for the nomination who passes the litmus test of social conservatives on abortion, gay marriage and gun control but is far removed from the conservative-libertarian model of Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan.

As one of those conservative-libertarian, Goldwater/Reagan types, who also happens to be an evangelical, that truth breaks my heart. Regardless of the way the media covers most church types, they are actually more in line with modern liberalism than conservatism. Most are not really that conservative at all, but part of that group once called Reagan Democrats. If you don't believe me, ask the average Baptist what he or she (especially she) thinks of TennCare? Why do you think we have TennCare in this Bible Belt state?

Jena Six Idiots Are Nothing New To This World

Jason Whitlock has written an excellent article about the Jena 6, in which he does something very unusual for a modern journalist, he relies on facts. He exposes the truth behind all of the made up stories and the unnecessary black eye that this small southern community has received, thanks to poor journalism and one man's "moral" mission.

Every journalist, every blogger, and every private citizen that jumped to conclusions without looking into the facts is..... How do I put this? You all are nothing but a bunch of idiots, stupid gullible idiots. I know that sounds harsh and mean, but it is true. You people are dangerous and you are precisely the reason that our country should be more like a republic and less like a democracy. You are why populist politicians exist and you are precisely why this republic will eventually vote itself into bankruptcy.

But you all were not born out of the situation in Jena, you have always been with us. You were in Russia in 1917 and Cuba in the 1950's? You were there when Marie Antoinette lost her head. You were in Italy screaming "Il Duce", and in Germany chanting "Heil Hitler". You were in Louisiana cheering along Huey Long, and in Alabama clapping for George Wallace. You were there making a spectacle of yourself at the Scopes Monkey Trial. Remember the McCarthy hearings? Yeah that was you. Flag burning and gay marriage? Yep, you again. Global warming hysteria and class envy? Guess who? You people are easy to manipulate, easy to stir into a mob. That's because you don't think. You act on your emotions. Your main characteristics are fear and envy, which makes you a magnet for the populist and his clever manipulation. Thanks to you, we'll probably end up with an inferior government run health care system. I could go on and on, but the bottom line is, you people are idiots. If you all would just think, and not take the words of an entertainer/journalist or rabble rousing populist at face value, then maybe you would not cause so much harm.

Just please, use your brains. If that is too much to ask, then please please, promise that you will never vote again. Please!

Should Have Been A Pardon

Well at least he did something. He should have pardoned him though.

What a miscarriage of justice. Scooter Libby was convicted of lying about a crime that never happened. The so-called leaker was actually Richard Armitege, but he really didn't leak anything. Fitzgerald knew that no crime had been committed, yet he still questioned people. Why? If it was evident that the issue did not fall within the statute, for what reason did the special prosecutor continue on?

We all know the answer to that question, don't we? What is so nasty and stinky about this whole thing is that many on the left realize all of this to be true, and that what happened was not exactly right, yet they still approved. They are so full of hatred, that they are willing to allow a special prosecutor to go on a fishing expedition in order to send somebody, anybody to jail. Libby's trial and conviction was nothing but political theater. It never should have happened.

Ironically, the President's Justice Department allowed Sandy Bergler to get off with a slap on the wrist for stuffing classified documents in his britches. Bergler is a Clinton guy and Libby is supposedly a Bush guy. Weird. He sells out his own and lets an opponent get off Scott free.

Amidst all of the statements today, they are still telling the same lies over and over again.

First, President Bush said any person who leaked would no longer work in his administration. Nonetheless, Scooter Libby didn't leave office until he was indicted and Karl Rove works in the White House even today. - Melanie Sloan, lawyer for Valerie Plame and Joe Wilson

She knows that neither Libby nor Rove leaked anything and she knows that her client was not covert as defined in the statute. Still though, she suffers from diarrhea of the mouth.

Until now, it appeared that the President merely turned a blind eye to a high ranking Administration official leaking classified information. The President's action today makes it clear that he condones such activity.- John Conyers

Another liar. Conyers knows that Libby did not leak classified information, but he realizes that the media will not challenge him. If Conyers really cared about classified information being leaked, he would call for the arrest of fellow Democrat Patrick "Leaky" Leahy.

The President's decision to commute Mr. Libby's sentence is disgraceful. Libby's conviction was the one faint glimmer of accountability for White House efforts to manipulate intelligence and silence critics of the Iraq War.- Harry Reid

Speaking of diarrhea of the mouth. This guy ought to be diagnosed with oral IBS. Reid and everybody else in Washington knows that Joe Wilson was the real liar. Is there suddenly something wrong with discrediting a liar. If the liar is on your side, I guess there is.

The sad fact is that the general public mostly believes these lies. Like I said earlier, the media refuses to challenge these habitual liars. I wonder if any of them remember the Mark Rich pardon. Oh but that was different. Right.

Cats Are Liberals

Nothing exemplifies the welfare state better than the life of the average cat. My cats Rolo and Harpeth are perfect examples. Their food and water bowls are always full. They come and go as they please, sometimes staying out all night doing God knows what. They are incredibly ungrateful, sometimes sharpening their claws on the furniture and laying in the laundry basket. They have everything they need, yet they still whine and moan as if they are entitled to more. When they get in fights or become sick, they receive free health care. They never take responsibility for any of their behavior. They have an entitlement mentality, passed down from generation to generation. They refuse to work and they lay around all day.

Now I realize that all liberals aren't cats. Some liberals are idealistic and hard working. They are the ones who enable the manipulative felines.

Wait a minute, does that make me a liberal? Aaagh!

Nativist, Xenophobic, Or How To Argue Against Enforcement of Immigration Laws

Racism, xenophobia, and nativism. If you are a left winger and looking to enter any discussion about illegal immigration, be sure to arm yourselves with those words. They offer you your best chance of victory. Never ever try to argue on an intellectual basis. Forget about the message. Just gun for the messenger. If you do this, victory is yours, regardless of how wrong you are.

I really don't understand the cynicism that people like S-Town Mike have toward their neighbors. Do Mike and his friends, like commenter Ginger, really believe that every one who opposes illegal immigration is a hate filled racist? If they do believe that, no wonder they are so angry.

After hearing this story yesterday, I reacted like most people. A very bright young student, a track star at TSU, and a future law school student, was killed yesterday by a drunk driver. That alone is enough to leave you bothered. Every life is valuable regardless of one's potential, but it especially hurts when an all American girl like this has her life cut short. Maybe we are wrong to seemingly put more value on this young lady's life than others. I don't know, but that's not the point. The point is, a young person was killed by a drunk driver.

Not only though was she killed by a drunk driver, she was killed by a drunk driver who was in this country illegally. But wait, it gets worse. Not only was this guy in this country illegally, but he was arrested four other times for various crimes, including car burglary and public intoxication. That's four times that this man was in the custody of law enforcement without being sent home.

I don't know what sources Mike uses to make his judgments about conservatives, but his immediate assumption that racism has fueled this discussion is just plain wrong. Are people angry and upset? Yes they are, but I haven't seen any protesters walking up and down Nolensville Pike wearing sheets and hoods. No the anger that most Americans feel today, is not aimed at the illegal aliens themselves.

The anger that most Americans feel today, is squarely aimed at the government. Americans don't hate Mexicans. Most Americans probably understand the reasons why illegals come here. As far as the government is concerned though, the average American feels betrayed. They feel like their President, their Senators and Congressmen, their governor, and their state legislators do not care about them nor listen to them. The public has grown increasingly cynical because they lobbied hard to have a fence built, and it has barely been started. The President that they helped elect, has resorted to calling them names, the same names used by lefties like S-Town Mike. When private citizens took time out of their lives to go down to the border and do a job that the government should have been doing, the President even called them "vigilantes". That kind of stuff has left the public angry and they have a right to be angry. When the average American looks at our government, he sees a collection of men and women who pander to special interest groups, rather than the public they are supposed to represent. Some of those groups even represent people that are in this country illegally.

Personally, I am pretty liberal on immigration. I believe we should change our laws to make it easier for people to come here. I also believe we should spend whatever amount it takes to build a fence along the southern border. As far as amnesty is concerned, I don't really care. But before we even start talking about granting anybody amnesty, we need to erect that fence. After we build that fence, then we can talk about amnesty. What is the point in having laws if you are not going to enforce them? The cynical side of me believes that laws passed by Congress merely amount to lip service. They calm the masses for a little bit, while not really amounting to anything. That's why I haven't paid much attention to the immigration bill debate. It just seems like business as usual.

I don't have much else to say about this subject, except that I am tired of seeing descent people labeled racist and xenophobic. That just isn't right and it is far from the truth.

Recovering Southerner Syndrome

Dinesh D'souza on Mike Nifong and the Duke professors.

Nifong seems to be suffering from Recovering Southerner Syndrome. This is the ailment, first named on this blog, in which Southerners feel so guilty about slavery and segregation that they perform undignified backward somersaults to prove that they are "not really Southern." When they encounter something Southern--like white Southern frat boys at a party--their mind immediately conjures up images of segregated water fountains and they draw their swords and go into Crusader Against Racism mode. Viewed in this way, Nifong saw himself as a kind of white knight slaying the dragons of Southern bigotry. Nifong was not alone in this: dozens of Duke professors reacted to the incident in exactly the same way.

It's like this. You will never ever see me treating black people "differently". Not better, not worse. If you really care about black people and believe that we are all created equal, then treat them the same way you treat white people. Let me warn you though. If you do, there is a good chance you will be labeled a racist.