Wisodom through the ages (from Boortz)

I Copied these from Niel's pages, but felt they were worth repeating...

In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm and three or more is a congress. -- John Adams

If you don't read the newspaper you are uninformed, if you do read the newspaper you are misinformed. -- Mark Twain

Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But then I repeat myself. -- Mark Twain

I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle. -- Winston Churchill

A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul. -- George Bernard Shaw

A liberal is someone who feels a great debt to his fellow man, which debt he proposes to pay off with your money. -- G. Gordon Liddy

Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner. -- James Bovard, Civil Libertarian (1994)

Foreign aid might be defined as a transfer of money from poor people in rich countries to rich people in poor countries. -- Douglas Casey, Classmate of Bill Clinton at Georgetown University

Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys. -- P.J. O'Rourke, Civil Libertarian

Government is the great fiction, through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else. -- Frederic Bastiat, French Economist (1801-1850)

Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it. -- Ronald Reagan (1986)

I don't make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts. -- Will Rogers

If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it's free! -- P.J. O'Rourke

In general, the art of government consists of taking as much money as possible from one party of the citizens to give to the other. -- Voltaire (1764)

Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you! -- Pericles (430 B.C.)

No man's life, liberty, or property is safe while the legislature is in session. -- Thomas Jefferson

Talk is cheap...except when Congress does it. -- Anonymous

The government is like a baby's alimentary canal, with a happy appetite at one end and no responsibility at the other. -- Ronald Reagan

The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of the blessings. The inherent blessing of socialism is the equal sharing of misery. -- Winston Churchill

The only difference between a tax man and a taxidermist is that the taxidermist leaves the skin. -- Mark Twain

The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools. -- Herbert Spencer, English Philosopher (1820-1903)

There is no distinctly native American criminal class...save Congress. -- Mark Twain

What this country needs are more unemployed politicians. -- Edward Langley, Artist (1928-1995)

A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have. -- Thomas Jefferson

The biggest difference between Republicans and Democrats is the spelling. -- Anonymous

Some facts the "Greens" dont want you to know

-- CO2 is not a “pollutant.” It is a trace gas necessary for all life of Earth because it is essential to the growth of all vegetation.

-- Without CO2 all vegetation—grasses, forests, jungles, crops such as wheat, corn and rice—dies. Then herbivores die. Then you die.

-- The CO2 produced by human industry or activity is a miniscule fraction of a percentage of greenhouse gases. It constitutes a mere 0.038% of the atmosphere.

-- The oceans emit 96.5% of all greenhouse gases, holding and releasing CO2 as it has down through the millennia of Earth’s existence.

-- In past millennia, CO2 levels were often much higher than the present.

-- CO2 levels rise hundreds of years after temperature rise on planet Earth.

-- The Sun is the primary source of warmth on Earth. Rising CO2 is an effect of global warming, not a cause.

-- Both global warming and cooling are natural phenomenon over which humans have no control.

-- The Earth is not currently warming. It has been cooling for a decade and likely to continue for at least another twenty years or longer. If a new Ice Age is triggered, it will last at least 10,000 years.

-- Polar ice is now at record levels and still growing.

But we are about to let the government enact a "cap and trade" policy which will increase the cost of energy up to an order of magnitude to reduce a trace element that does not cause "global warming" - which isn't really happening anyway...

These days I feel like I fell through the looking glass and the Cheshire cat is reading the news to me...

Where are we headed?

To those who would believe that this nation was not founded as a Christian nation, here are the facts.

“ The general principles upon which the Fathers achieved independence were the general principals of Christianity… I will avow that I believed and now believe that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and attributes of God.”

“[July 4th] ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty.”

–John Adams in a letter written to Abigail on the day the Declaration was approved by Congress

“ He who made all men hath made the truths necessary to human happiness obvious to all… Our forefathers opened the Bible to all.”

- Samuel Adams "American Independence," August 1, 1776. Speech delivered at the State House in Philadelphia

“Why is it that, next to the birthday of the Savior of the world, your most joyous and most venerated festival returns on this day [the Fourth of July]?" “Is it not that, in the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior? That it forms a leading event in the progress of the Gospel dispensation? Is it not that the Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact on the foundation of the Redeemer's mission upon earth? That it laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity"?

-John Quincy Adams 1837, at the age of 69, when he delivered a Fourth of July speech at Newburyport, Massachusetts.

“ God governs in the affairs of man. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? We have been assured in the Sacred Writings that except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. I firmly believe this. I also believe that, without His concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel”

–Benjamin Franklin Constitutional Convention of 1787 | original manuscript of this speech

“In the beginning of the contest with Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayers in this room for Divine protection. Our prayers, Sir, were heard, and they were graciously answered… do we imagine we no longer need His assistance?”

-Benjamin Franklin Constitutional Convention, Thursday June 28, 1787

“I have a tender reliance on the mercy of the Almighty, through the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ. I am a sinner. I look to Him for mercy; pray for me.”


- Alexander Hamilton July 12, 1804

“It cannot be emphasized too clearly and too often that this nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religion, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ. For this very reason, peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity, and freedom of worship here.”

- Patrick Henry May 1765 Speech to the House of Burgesses

“God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are a gift from God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, and that His justice cannot sleep forever.” (excerpts are inscribed on the walls of the Jefferson Memorial in the nations capital)

- Thomas Jefferson from Jefferson’s Notes on the State of Virginia, Query XVIII, 1781

“We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government, far from it. We’ve staked the future of all our political institutions upon our capacity…to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God.”

- James Madison 1778 to the General Assembly of the State of Virginia

And of course, George Washington

From his farewell address "...reason and experience both forbid us to expect, that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle..."

“ It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and Bible.”

“What students would learn in American schools above all is the religion of Jesus Christ.” [speech to the Delaware Indian Chiefs May 12, 1779]

"To the distinguished character of patriot, it should be our highest glory to add the more distinguished character of Christian" [May 2, 1778, at Valley Forge]

Where are we headed now Barrack?

I pledge non-allegiance to the flag of the deluded states of America
Nor to the republic which used to stand
Once a nation under God
now indefensible with immorality and injustice for all

The Self Annoited

OK, let’s assume for the sake of argument that Barrack Obama is not a disciple of Satan, the Anti-Christ, or even Satan himself manifest as a man. Rather that he is a misguided, self deluding narcissist who believes he can rule the world by converting the last bastion of capitalism to socialism and form a world government of united socialist nations of which he would be king. Under what circumstance could this be accomplished and what steps would be needed to wrestle the freedoms from the American people without causing a major revolt?

It would require a majority of the nation to be unaware of history so they would not recognize the socialist character of his plans and would not be aware of the devastating consequences that socialism and communism have on the freedoms of the people the enslave. Well, I guess the government control of our schools has pretty much accomplished that (if you don’t think so, just ask anyone less that 30 years old to explain the differences between free market capitalism, socialism, and communism and give an real world example of countries of each type).

Since not everyone will have been left illiterate by the public schools, he would need nearly complete control of the news that is reported to the population in general. Much would need to be accomplished in secret, and the contradictions between truth and the agenda would have to be quelled. Communist, Fascist and Socialist leaders ALWAYS maintain tight control over the media to minimize opposing views and keep the people informed of news favorable to the regime. A country founded on independence and freedom would have many who would seek the truth regardless of what they are told, and this threat must be neutralized. I doubt anyone who paid the slightest attention to the election coverage or the ongoing gushing adulation of our news media wouldn’t come to the conclusion that no work is required as far as television is concerned.

But then there’s that pesky problem of conservative talk radio. Having a large following, it will become a problem as the more radical parts of the plan are enacted into law. There will be a need to silence them early in the timetable to prevent the possibility of the people rising up against the plan before it is complete. And of course, disarming the public at large will be quite necessary. The American people have more weapons and ammunition than the US military. If the truth was accidentally released, and the people decided to organize against it, the government could loose control very quickly.

Then, he would need a situation where the once fiercely independent Americans would not fight back against the imposition of government control over their lives and free speech. The earlier global warming “crisis” seemed to be one that would fit the bill, but its acceptance took too long, and by the time it really began to gain momentum; too many people had realized it was a hoax. It still garnered a fair amount of support, but something more frightening and harder to refute would be required. Enter Barney Frank and Freddie and Fanny and the housing crisis. Bringing the economy to its knees both here and abroad, this crisis would have the most independent looking for a savior.

May God save us from this savior.

From Apathy to Dependency

War has been the determining factor in the rise and fall of civilizations throughout history. From the Old Testament times until the middle of the 20th century, they were largely dependent on the number of soldiers, their courage and skills in battle, and the supremacy of the weapons technology. A great number of victories were the result of courageous men willing to die for their country, rallying their fellow men to victory against uneven odds. There were codes of conduct for the treatment of captives, and honor to the bravery of the men of both the victor and the vanquished. The technology of warfare as it has matured throughout the 20th century has removed the honor from the battlefield.

WWII leveraged technology that would forever change warfare, mainly aircraft, submarines and aircraft carriers. Hitler’s infamous “blitzkrieg” (lightning war), relied heavily on fighter bombers supporting ground troops, and his fast moving armies swept across Europe. He conquered most of Europe, threatened Britain, and drew all the nations of the world into the conflict (with a little help from Japan, of course). The battles in Europe against Germany were mainly land battles fought with infantry and artillery relying heavily on the courage of the individual in the prosecution of the battle. The battles to control the pacific islands were, bloody, horrific slaughters of men on both sides.

Ironically, the battle that led to the allied victory in the Pacific was the battle of Midway. A battle fought between aircraft carriers, the soldiers being pilots; very few of the total sailors of the two opposing fleets were involved in the actual combat. I’m not implying that the victory did not depend on great courage of the pilots involved, and the gunners defending their ships. Flying into a hailstorm of defensive gunfire or manning a gun facing an incoming plane about to drop a bomb in your lap is most certainly harrowing. The decisive technology of Naval combat was the aircraft carrier, and the Japanese fleet lost four in a matter of a few hours, forever changing the course of the war.

As technology improved, war could be prosecuted from greater distances. The final victory came over Japan when the B29s dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, breaking the will of the Japanese to fight on. As with all conquering, victory is not complete until the vanquished has lost its will to fight. This new technology would end the attempts to gain world control with soldiers and armies. To achieve world domination in a world where a World War would certainly result in the destruction of all living things, it would have to be done ideologically, via the world economy.

The end of WWII marked the pinnacle of America. Heady from our victories abroad, we began to turn our backs on the foundational principals of our nation. Our economy was strong, the world was at peace, and we had emerged strong in our manufacturing power and prosperity abounded. But many of the wives who had gone to work out of necessity during the war enjoyed the freedom and additional income and were reticent to return to the role of housewife. This began the deterioration of the nuclear family, which had devastating consequences to our society as the children born in the baby boom would question the roots of our society a couple decades later.

As America grew rich its people became complacent, believing that the prosperity they enjoyed would always be part of their way of life, and they needed do nothing to preserve it. But the world at large was not at peace. The cold war frightened everyone as we realized we could be vaporized in a matter of minutes and that nations diametrically opposed to our way of life had the power to initiate it. It did little to inspire our generation to follow our leaders, who with a few exceptions were corrupt professional politicians, bearing little resemblance to representing the people as our founding fathers had intended.

I developed a strong healthy fear of government growing up. The Kennedy assassinations, the riots in Detroit in ’67, the bungled Viet Nam war, Watergate and the ensuing trials and revelations (or non-revelations as the case may be) did much to reinforce that. The hostage crisis in Iran and Carter’s bungled attempt to free them, along with the realization that Ross Perot sent commando’s in and got them out himself, did much to strengthen my fear of the potential of the radicals in the middle east, and the weakness of the democrat philosophy to stand up to it.

Carter’s economic policies which created 21% mortgage rates, 12.5% unemployment and enacted some of the first “green” legislation (the mandate for catalytic converters) which nearly bankrupted the auto industry gave me a strong fear of socialist ideas. The following administration under Reagan, showed me how limiting government taxes and spending would foster a strong economy. Clinton benefitted from his predecessors wisdom, but did little else than reinforce my disdain for dishonesty in Washington. Bush was handed a sagging economy, the first successful terrorist strike on our soil, and responded in what I believe he thought was the only appropriate way. The protracted war put a drag on our economy, and the reckless spending on both sides of the isle set of the financial crisis we enjoy today.

Although I managed to maintain a healthy fear of government as our constitution intended, I fear my peers did not. Solving this financial crisis with spending, and believing that it was not cause by the government itself is willful disregard for the truth. It has been said that Satan’s greatest accomplishment was convincing the unsuspecting that he didn’t exist. The politicians in Washington would have us not look at the root cause of the housing crisis, because if we do, we find government pressure on banks to lend money to unqualified borrowers and face fines for not doing so, and Fanny and Freddie stuffing the coffers of liberal democrats campaign funds.

The spending bill just passed will give an average of $13.00 per week to those who receive the welfare funds. How can that be called “stimulus”?

I quoted Alexander Tyler writing about the fall of the Athenian Republic in an earlier post, but it needs to be repeated here.

"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves money from the public treasure. From that moment on the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most money from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's great civilizations has been two hundred years. These nations have progressed through the following sequence: from bondage to spiritual faith, from spiritual faith to great courage, from courage to liberty, from liberty to abundance, from abundance to selfishness, from selfishness to complacency from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependency, from dependency back to bondage."

I fear we are passing from apathy to dependency. And I don’t look forward to the last phase.

Truths spoken by Obama

-end

Judgement, or lack thereof

The proposition 8 controversy in California is a perfect example of the future of America as we loose control of our government. Gay marriage was illegal in California (as it is in most states and countries around the world) but a Judge took it upon himself to declare his will and legislate from the bench that it was legal. Whether his action was illegal or unconstitutional is not the point of this mention, but the action the people of California took to correct his action is. Proposition 8 passed by a majority of the California population and those who opposed it are asking the California Supreme Court to overturn this legislation. Once again, it is not within the authority of a Judge to create or destroy a LAW, they are simply bound to APPLY the laws passed by the legislature.

Alexis de Tocqueville in Democracy in America wrote, “the President may slip without the state suffering” and “Congress may slip without the Union perishing.” also, “if ever the Supreme Court came to be composed of rash and corrupt men, the confederation would be threatened by anarchy and civil war.” A new President and a new Congress can be elected, but judges have life tenure and if there is no rule of law, how then shall we govern? By the rash emotions of judges? By the corrupt discrimination of judges against different classes of people?

It seems that when those in government exercise "judgement", its not in the interest of the people.