No, I DON'T have to like Obama. Every complaint I had with GW, Obama has made worse. Now even Democrats are throwing him under the bus, as predicted. I pray now, that the electorate stops congress before the train wreck. Think Greece is bringing down the world economy, just watch what the US can do...

Humanity should be held to a higher standard than its governments.

Government will not make you strong.
Government will not make you compassionate.
Government will not make you moral.
Government will not make you wise.
Government will not make you peaceful.
Government will not make you just.
Government will not make you kind.
Government will not make you safe.
Government will not make you good.
Government will not make you happy.
Government will not make you free.
Government will not make you live.

Individuals should be held to a higher standard than humanity.

Shrink the Federal Government

I reject, as a matter of primary principle, any solution to any problem that grows the size, financial requirements, or function of the Federal Government. The inane Kobayashi Maru morality quips like "No one should die because she cannot afford health care, and no one should go broke because she gets sick. If you agree, please post this as your status for the next 24 hours" will not go unchallenged if I see them. If the government can't afford her health care, she dies. What do you do then? Call the UN? HA!

The Christians and Buddhists have an interesting solution to this dilemma, that doesn't involve further enslavement to the Great Government Bureaucracy. Having the services of the government be the determining factor of how our society is considered just or compassionate demonstrates a fallacy of understanding that I cannot tolerate.

Furthermore, I will argue with anyone who considers my political opinion wrong. I am entitled to have it, speak my mind, and convince others to accept my viewpoint. This country was founded on the free exchange of ideas from groups of people who did not agree. Arguing challenges the issue or solution to be the best it can be. If all the problems are made know, we will be better for it. The great political debate is what sets us apart from China, Cuba, Iran, or North Korea. As pointless as you might think the political bickering is, it most certainly has a point. Especially if you can agree to disagree.

And I reject the notion that "we have to do something". No, we do not. I would rather take the status quo, over increasing government interference in my life. Socialism is wrong, and I know this to be true. If I call someone a socialist, I see them as a threat to my freedom, politically and economically. I do not see Europe as a more evolved, smarter, or more cultured example of what society should be like.

"The White House on Monday said the new estimate of the budget deficit would nearly reach $2 trillion - that's trillion, with a "t" - and that's nearly 13 percent of the entire gross domestic product. Pretty gross any way you spin it, and the president's men (and women) are spinning it as best they can. Alas, the country's predicament, if not yet the president's, is probably worse than it looks." -Pruden/Washingtion Times

Through most of the history of our national debt it has remained around 7% of our GDP. This number is nearly double that, and halfway to Japan's milestone of 21% back when they were having their problems. The collective stupidity of congress has filled up the tank, and the wheelman is heading the wrong way. The only green part of it, is the color we are now bleeding. -Waldo

Economics 101: for those of you who didn't learn it in the course of your public education, college, or have the benefit of someone with the knowledge in your family to teach you.

I really get tired of making the argument on who really pays corporate taxes. WE DO, the consumer. Taxes are in the 'cost of doing business' side of the books. Guess what? Really... If you raise taxes, especially to the punitive levels some of the fecktards in Washington desire, every company in the country is going to have to raise their prices. And we will pay it, because "we" wanted it by voting in a bunch of socialist dimwits. That's how it works, so don't be stoopid and argue it otherwise.

November 2008: The end of reason

I'm not going to go into the discussion about "its the government's responsibility to...", that is a political opinion and there is no correct answer. I hear the most malformed reasoning leading into peoples voting habits, and I have resigned to merely point out facts on how things work and what people do, not what they say. There were a lot of words tossed around before November, some of them being not so well thought out.

Sara Palin has more public service experience than Barak Obama. But they weren't running for the same office, were they. The Republicans ran moderate and lost. That happens every time they do it, and they seem to forget it. Personally, I like John McCain but I don't like his politics. Obama was a liberal lawyer, and had done nothing to stir controversy in his political move, except perhaps having the worst voting and attendance record in the senate. He was a paper candidate foisted up by billionaire Democrats and the media orgy. CNN and NPR both lost my patronage with their loss of sensibilities in this election.

The Libertarian Party was deliberately kept off the the ballot in a few states, so they had to fight it out in the courts. I donated money to the Libertarian cause, and voted for Bob Barr. Why? Because REAL CHANGE does not come from Democrats or Republicans. They are the parties in power.

Democrats in Congress have a lower approval rating than President George Bush. Why did more Democrats get elected then? Stupidity. George Bush's biggest mistake was straying from core conservative values, and not taking the Democrats to mat on several issues. The medicare prescription drug benefit was a complete sellout, and abandonment of being fiscally responsible.

Thoughts on the war in Iraq.

The press, going into the war got it all wrong. Their dates were off by an order of magnitude, and painted such a doom and gloom scenario, I wondered if they had any faith in our military at all. Three guys sitting around a lunch table, with a better-than-average understanding of history, got it right. Exactly right. And guess what... according to those same predictions we will be in Iraq for several more years. Why? Islamic culture has fallen into medieval thuggery, and it will take a great deal of time to bring them into the modern era.

We got the intelligence wrong, and so did every other government participating in the various UN monitoring activities. I don't think the endless, nagging discussion on any alleged alterations of the intelligence data is productive at this point. Most of the insiders from the administration who are reporting this have made and are making a lot of money from book and movie deals. This is, of course, the media rewarding opinions that it likes and that advance its agendas.

Saddam needed killing. He was an evil man, and I don't want to hear any blathering about it. He was working on weapons of mass destruction. He had used chemical weapons in the past. His sons were even more sickly twisted monsters.

Iraq was not involved in 911. That is Bullshit. There were medical records of Taliban from Afghanistan being treated in hospitals. Saddam was funneling money to them, as well as goods and services paid for by the UN-oil-for-food fiasco.

The UN is useless. Especially went soooo many countries are run by dictators. The real humor is when these same dictators use the 'democratic' UN for their self-serving douchebaggery. If a dictator from a tiny country can make a sham out of the UN, why do we treat it like the greatest evolutionary step of mankind? Stoopid.

I refuse to accept, on equal terms, a culture who treats women and children as property, uses violence to promote internal political control, and is not willing to tolerate social differences. Arab culture is the most zealotrous, hateful, and intolerant of any society today.

Yes, I believe there is a need for violence (i.e. war) as an outward projection of political beliefs. The problem in today's scenario is that islamic militants operate like criminals, and function openly in some countries. If there is a haven for these monsters, it must be eliminated. I want to live free, and I want to live in a country where I don't have to worry about bombs going off in schools, public areas, or busses. If this means we have to fight the fight in someone else's backyard, so be it.

Life without the media... almost.

I have been without radio for a while now. My iPod has been used more now than ever. I've got two dozen, mostly technology, podcasts to which I've subscribed. The only political exposure now is the 10 minute segment I catch on the radio while I shower, and the water-cooler conversations at work. I think Obama is a paper candidate propped up by the ultra-rich democrats, and just another smooth-talking lawyer. McCain is probably a nicer guy, but I don't like his politics either. "Bob Barr for President!", I say.

http://www.bobbarr2008.com/spread-the-word/

I am finally catching up on my housework, and getting ready to update OGGoO. I have more ideas than time. Time, time, time. Sadly, there never seems to be enough of it.