Status Update

You may have noticed the extended silence echoing from this blog recently. The explanation for this is quite simple... my beloved wife and I embarked on a cruise to Mexico in celebration of our 25th wedding anniversary.

For the record, we had a blast on board the Carnival Elation, sailing out of Mobile. If you want to be pampered and indulged, if you want to be treated like visiting royalty, then I recommend that you try a cruise. The people were great, the food was phenominal, and the ship was gorgeous.

My wife took and bought so many pictures that the weight of our luggage doubled. (grin)


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Friday Musical Offering

If the player doesn't work, try this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0heL2Czeraw


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Breakng: Trump Not Running For President

Donald Trump announced today that he will NOT run for President of the United States. Coincidentally, this announcement came on the same day that NBC announced they were renewing his TV show, The Apprentice.
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/161415-trump-wont-run-for-president

In my opinion, this is good news... the man would have made a TERRIBLE President.


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US Government: Ripe For Overthrow?

I know, this title is a bit provocative, but from a Constitutional perspective it might just be true.

When we broke away from England way back when, we announced our intentions via the Declaration of Independence. Let's look at a short excerpt from that document.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

Clearly, the Founders viewed the purpose of the government to secure and protect the rights of its citizens. But notice that one phrase, "deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed." I highlight this, because our current government does not enjoy the consent of US citizens. It's not even close. In fact, only 23% of US citizens believe our government operates with our consent.
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/general_politics/may_2011/just_23_say_federal_government_has_consent_of_the_governed

Most voters nationwide continue to feel disconnected from their government and overwhelmingly believe that Congress puts party politics ahead of its constituents' concerns.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of Likely Voters shows that only 23% believe the federal government today has the consent of the governed. Sixty percent (60%) do not think this is the case, while another 17% are undecided.

Did you catch that? A full 60% think our government is operating without our consent, while only 23% believe otherwise.

Let's return to the declaration, shall we?

That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government

Personally, I think we're far past the point when we should have taken action "to alter or to abolish" our government, as most elected officials govern for their own benefit and view ordinary citizens with disdain.

What do YOU think?

The exact wording of the question on the poll is as follows:

The Declaration of Independence says that governments derive their authority from the consent of the governed. Does the federal government today have the consent of the governed?

How would YOU answer it?

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GOP Betrayal: Chapter 2

I warned about this from day one, as did many others. It's official, the GOP is betraying the American people and ignoring the promises they made.

Their first betrayal came during the "continuing resolution" fight to pass something to keep the federal government going. After promising to cut $100 billion in spending, they only managed to cut about $300 million in spending from this year's budget.

Their second betrayal is shaping up now, as next year's budget is being crafted in the House. They have promised to cut "trillions" in spending, but according to their road map for spending bills, they are on track to cut $30 billion in spending from next year's budget.
http://www.wsbradio.com/weblogs/jamie-dupree/2011/may/11/30-billion-cuts/

But if you look at the roadmap released on Wednesday afternoon for next year's spending bills in the House, the goal is to cut $30.3 billion from this year's budget.

The figures come from what's known as the "302(b) suballocations" from the House Appropriations Committee, which basically lay out how much each subcommittee can spend in their individual budget bills that will go through the House in coming weeks and months.

Probably some of you are reading this and thinking something like this:

"Wait a second - the federal deficit this year is supposed to be about $1.5 trillion, and the Republicans are preparing a budget that cuts $30 billion?"

Yes, that's what these numbers say.

So, are you ready yet for a third party? It's past time to junk the entire GOP establishment and back a party that ACTUALLY supports small government and a balanced budget. As they stand, the GOP talks a good game but governs like Democrats-lite... Is that what we want?

It's not what I want, but I can't change things alone. So, who wants to start this third party and make it work?


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On Releasing The Bin Laden Pictures

Okay, so the Obama administration is refusing to release the photos, and this position is supported by many people and opposed by many others. So, what do I think about this?

Personally, I don't care much one way or the other, but I do have a pertinent question that I'll ask in a minute.

Releasing the pictures won't spark a huge outcry against Americans that isn't already destined to happen. And not releasing the photos isn't going to convince doubters that he's actually dead... they will say the government has had plenty of time to photoshop any picture they want to distribute.

So, the overall question doesn't bother me... except for this aspect.

Does PresBo even have the LEGAL RIGHT to keep those pictures secret?


This is a serious question, so think about it. Those pictures, the result of a US military raid, are government records. The US may refuse to release documents for national security reasons, but what can they POSSIBLY show that is secret or would harm or hamper future US military or intelligence operations? The entire world has already been told he's dead, with Al Qaeda confirmation now, and the US government has been eagerly issuing all kinds of information (albeit often conflicting information) about the mission and the personnel involved in it.

So, on what legal basis can they refuse to release them? Claiming that the pictures might prove politically embarrassing won't cut it, nor will raising "fears" that releasing the pictures would spark violence.

Please note that I'm not ADVOCATING that they release the pictures, I'm just saying that I don't see any legal justification for them not to do so. The first FOIA request filed, when refused by PresBo, will turn into a lawsuit that the federal government should ultimately lose.

The thing that PresBo doesn't remember (if he ever knew it at all) is that he's not a dictator, and he can't do anything he wants. There are limits, and the limits surrounding open records are pretty clear.

So I would like to hear PresBo tell us why he thinks he has the legal right to keep those photos hidden. He doesn't understand the limitations of the powers of his office, nor does he respect the people of this nation that make the whole shebang work.

But we should remind him.

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Obama: Tax Vehicles By The Mile

This idea has been floating around for quite a while, and has received support from various state and federal level lawmakers. But not until now has it received Presidential approval... It's official. PresBo wants to tax us all based upon how many miles we drive.

This plan, proposed in a draft transportation authorization bill called "Transportation Opportunities Act," would require that automobiles be equipped with equipment that could track the miles driven and electronically report that information to the government.

You can read a copy of the draft bill here (start reading at page 167):
http://thehill.com/images/stories/blogs/flooraction/Jan2011/draftdot.pdf

First of all, aren't drivers already being taxed on the amount they drive through gasoline taxes? It would seem so, and remember that for every gallon of gas we buy, the federal government gets 18.3 cents in tax revenue. Now, since Americans use in the neighborhood of 178 MILLION gallons of gasoline every day, that means the Feds rake in $32.5 million a day from gasoline taxes alone. That amounts to $11.8 BILLION a year.

Wouldn't taxing by the mile be merely another financial burden on Americans, limiting both personal and commercial travel?

But there's another, more sinister problem here.


For this to work, EVERY car would have to have equipment installed to gather positional data and transmit that data to the relevant tax-collecting agency. This means that, potentially, the federal government will be tracking your every movement, and could be storing that data for future use. Whether it's data that could be subpoenaed for criminal (or civil) proceedings, or data that could be abused by employees and politicians for personal or political reasons, it should be clear that giving the government access to this kind of data is an incredibly bad idea.

Granted, the plan hasn't been formulated in detail, yet, but the temptation to gather positional data on vehicles for later use by the government has to be huge. And since positional data can be easily derived during transmission via wireless communications, the collection of such data would not be difficult.

But it WOULD be an incredibly bad idea... at least, for those of us who still value limited government and individual liberty. Just because the federal government CAN track our movements doesn't mean that they SHOULD.

So this is the direction in which our President wants to take this country. George Orwell, move over... PresBo wants to implement a vision of the future that you would find familiar.

Now I ask... where is the Republican outrage for this proposal? Could it be that they don't mind very much?

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Osama Bin Laden Is Dead

As you no doubt know by now, the leader of al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, was located and killed in a firefight with US special forces. Apparently, Navy Seals attacked a compound at which intelligence services believed resided some "high-ranking" al Qadea operatives. Fortune was with them, and bin Laden was one of those killed at the compound... and no Americans died in the assault.

PresBo made the announcement last night in a late-night address, saying that "justice has been done." He could not have been more right.

Osama bin Laden masterminded many attacks on Americans, solely because we don't share his religious beliefs and we have the temerity to be a powerful, prosperous nation. His acts, though reputedly performed in the name of Allah, were evil and despicable, and should shame the practitioners of his own religion. Murder is murder, and this world is better off without his particular brand of evil.

About bin Laden, I can say only this: The world is a better place today than it was yesterday, now that bin Laden is no longer among the living. There are not many I would say that about, but he is one.


We execute a murderer for two basic reasons. The first is to prevent him from doing it again, and it is certain that bin Laden himself will never kill any more innocent people. The second is punishment, and the justness of that I will leave to you.

Osama bin Laden is gone. Now we watch as his band of murderers and thieves, known as al Qaeda, seek to make him a martyr and promote further violence against our nation. I expect that, if they had another video by bin Laden prepared, we will see that released in the near future... possibly along with an attempt to make us believe the US is lying about his death.

Whether or not this will reduce al Qaeda's power and strength in the Muslim world remains to be seen... but we in this nation will sleep better knowing that bin Laden is no more. Whatever the ultimate outcome, this is an accomplishment well worth achieving.

My congratulations and thanks go out to those members of the armed forces who made this possible. Thank you for your dedication and your service.

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