Utopia vs Freedom

RealClearPolitics - Utopia Versus Freedom

Sowell states the obvious that it seems that nobody understands these days. One man's utopia is another man's hell. Our country was founded in the ideal that I have the freedom to try to find MY utopia as long as it doesn't interfere with your freedom to find yours!! Freedom ALWAYS means **RISK** ... human's are vastly flawed, and things are not here to make us happy (one would think that death might be enough of a clue of that fact for even the most non-observant). Therefore, we have a right to PURSUE happiness -- not "have it". A right to "have it" is a guarantee that the vast majority will have anything but happiness and that "unalienable right" to pursue it will have been squandered in the bargain.

The other very operative factor is that it IS possible for individuals to have significant freedom. but it turns out to NOT be possible to have utopia in this world (again, death is a nice clue). So the trade-off is giving up the real for the fictional -- a very bad trade.

I don't need to quote it, it is short, just read it!

Moderates on Healthcare

IBDeditorials.com: Editorials, Political Cartoons, and Polls from Investor's Business Daily -- Gov't-Run Care Is A Study In Soaring Costs

With the country deep in the left ditch, the term "moderate" seems to have fallen completely out of fashion. When we were only on the left shoulder with extremely moderate Republicans like Bush and McCain in the drivers seat, the current crop of socialists were of course "moderates", but now that we are buried in the left ditch with little apparent hope of rescue, "moderates" are no where to be found. It seems that the MSM and the bulk of the lefties just can't imagine the use of the moderate term for ANYONE that isn't on the left. "Moderate" is good, left is good -- if you look at the world that way, and that is just how they think.

I'd argue that Boschwitz and Penney are a pretty moderate combination, and they are even prone to this currently completely missing thought of "common sense". If we are going to sign the government up for a gigantic medical entitlement, ought we not look at how they have done with the two giant entitlements they have today in the medical area -- Medicare and Medicade??

What kind of impact did Medicare, the first large government health insurance plan have in budgetary terms? Medicare rose from $5.1 billion in 1968 to $436.0 billion in 2007 an astounding increase of 85.5 times over the 40-year period. Will ObamaCare be better?

Their article goes over all the comparisons with the rest of the budget, but the bottom line is that about the only thing the government seems to be able to do at an ever decreasing percentage of the budget is defense.

The Answer is Always Left

Commentary: Why Obama's plans are stalled - CNN.com

BO's 2nd 100 days haven't been as stellar as the far left ditch was sure they would be. Why is that? Well in 2nd position, there are of course still those evil Repbublicans, but when one has a 60 vote majority in the Senate, even your more sophisticated lefty has to realize that it is hard to JUST blame the Republicans. The problem?

One of the biggest challenges has been the division within the Democratic Party between a handful of centrists and the liberal base. The tensions immediately became apparent when moderates forced Congress to reduce the size of the economic stimulus bill back in February.

Damn!! Those Democrats just aren't far enough to the left!! Not only do we need to get to one party rule, it is imperitive that party be ideologically pure! Note the "slight" difference here that Bush -- he of perscription drug benefits, trying to save FICA with private accounts, and No Child Left Behind (Federal involvement in education) -- HE was a "hard core radical right wing ideologue". Note the lack of "ideology" on the left -- what would it take to find a left wing ideologue? Apparetntly there is no such thing.

For most of the MSM, my guess would be that if we were left of China, they would still find a few too many "moderates" outside of prison somewhere that were causing trouble.

What Do You Think???

Boston officer's apparent racial slur may get him fired - CNN.com

Just read the link and tell me what Boston Officer you think of? Notice the pictures.



The guy on the top is Jim Crowley the officer involved in the Gates arrest, the guy on the bottom is Justin Barrett the guy who sent the note. Barrett had nothing to do with the arrest, yet the fact that the note was sent was linked below the CNN headline about the Gates incident.

One wonders how many crank notes the Boston Globe gets on a daily basis? What percentage do you suppose they publish??

Does the MSM try to "subtely" influence what people think via "assumed relationships"??

How many times did we hear from varies media and Democrat sources that "Bill Clinton was set up"?? Paula Jones and Monica Lewinsky were "openly rumored" to be "plants". Even the first lady talked on national TV about "the vast right wing conspiracy", yet to the majority of the left, anyone that even claims that there is a media bias is "a nutcase".

At the very least, the "message" that covering some officers screed note to the Boston Globe gets across is "The Boston Police are Racist". Who benefits from that message?

I think it is pretty hard to argue anything but that the Boston Globe and CNN thought it would be good to plant the seed that "the Boston Cop" had sent a racist note, so he was a racist. I bet over half of their readers looked at it and said "SEE!! The cop is a racist!!!"

Losing Prosperity for Equality

RealClearMarkets - Is Economic Equality Worth the Loss of Prosperity?

Naturally, the MSM and the left will assure us that this is a "false choice" -- they ought to know, they are getting pretty expert at them lately -- "BO stimulus or depression, BO healthcare or "nothing" (whatever that means). Their thinking is that one DOESN'T need to have those "animal spirits" of capitalism in order to have "prosperity". How do we know if they are right? Well, let them get rid of all the capitalism and make everyone dependent on the state for basic food, and then we can see ... of course when we get there, we may no longer be able to do anything about it, but then that would be OK with the lefties as well. Must be Bush's fault!!

The radical idea that all men should be equal before the law, each free to pursue happiness using his own means, created a nation of innovators that transformed the world. American culture had little tolerance for hereditary privilege, instead celebrating the self-made man accepting unequal outcomes as the price society pays to motivate entrepreneurial risk. Our founding social contract gave almost everyone a shot at riches but guaranteed outcomes for none. The system lasted 200 years because the same market that rewarded innovation eventually spread its fruits to even life's laggards. In the historical blink of an eye material luxuries became necessities became basic human "rights."

A Contrast Worth A Trillion Words

American Thinker Blog: Obama's revealing body language (updated and expanded))

It is worth looking at the picture that leads the story and the one that ends it, and then just spend a moment on the contrast. BO is pictured by the MSM as "compassionate, caring, a man of the people, non-partisan, approachable, etc" ... in other words, all things good. Bush on the other hand "pompous, arrogant, partisan, out of touch, uncaring, only thinks of the rich, ... in other words, all things bad.

The press assigns those characteristics to those men because those are likely the feelings that they have as they think of them and their policies. BO promises that he will make OTHERS do a whole lot of "caring and compassion", but what will he himself do? How "caring and compassionate" does a giant government bureaucracy on the public dole staffed by union employees with nearly total job security but zero capacity to improve their position by better performance become?

One look at Bush helping the oldest Senate Democrat down the stairs shows more about compassion than 100 slick speeches read off a teleprompter in my book. One look at Crowley helping his accuser who ripped into him while he calmly did his job as an officer down the steps while BO is completely oblivious to the needs of his friend shows who it is that needs "teaching".

We live in a nation where the 24x7 coverage of everything makes it SEEM like it is "the words that matter", but in fact both individually and as a nation, it is eventually who we ARE that speaks so much more loudly than what we SAY. We have lost sight of that, and unfortunately the vast majority of Americans continue to follow the words of the MSM and charlatans telling them that "it is all someone elses' fault, the rich can bail us out, trust the government not yourselves ...".

A Serious Look At The Gate's Debacle

iowahawk: Cambridge Police Profiling Still A Grim Reality for Harvard Faculty Assholes

If the term A**hole is too offensive, then skip this. If allowances can be made in the interest of very well done satire, then highly recommended.

Summer Office

In these days of internet connectivity and many meetings being call-in since travel is often restricted, I've spent a good deal of time working from the covered deck this summer. Even with current laptop screens actually working outside is difficult to impossible -- the sun, or even a somewhat cloudy day washes the screen out too much to allow it to be productive. Having the deck covered seems to solve the problem though -- face the screen away from the outside and it is very visible.

Makes some of those hours of work MUCH more enjoyable -- and for those days when I'm not working, that reclining deck chair works very well for reading that often ends up with the energy state being lowered even a bit more.

Is the MSM Effect Limited?

NPR Poll Finds Tough Sledding For Obama : NPR

The nation is close to evenly split in its assessment of the president's policies to date, and there is great intensity on both sides of the debate with dwindling numbers in the middle.

The MSM is finding this almost unbelievable and trying with all their might to shore up the sinking BO. How in the world is it that a failed community organizer with no leadership experience would be having problems being president of the US? To lefties that assume that they could handle any job in the universe better than whomever happens to have it if only they were recognized for the brilliance that keeps getting ignored, the concept that somebody that "sounds good" might not be able to make a great leader is beyond comprehension.

As is always the case with the those that simply "know better" independent of facts or results, the cries to stamp out those that are not in agreement are rising. The WH is encouraging folks to rat out anyone saying anything "fishy" (now there is a technical term) about BOcare!! Naturally the MSM is largely ignoring this, let alone calling it "chilling".

Questions For BOcare

RealClearPolitics - 10 Questions for Supporters of 'ObamaCare'

Not that supporters of "hope and change", now currently in the guise of BOcare are likely to be either the question asking or answering type, but in case there is anyone that is starting to wonder if "not all change is positive change", these would be some reasonable questions to want to get answered before going many more trillions in the hole.

If a slick car dealer came up to you and said that he was going to get you a cheaper and better car and get some other guy to pay for it, would you believe him? Would you believe him if he read everything to you off a teleprompter?? If not, it would REALLY be a good idea to think just a little more deeply about BOcare.

How People Think

RealClearPolitics - A Racial Power Equation

I found this column to be a lesson in "why we don't just all get along". We open with an assertion:

If race were the only issue, there would be much less hyperventilation about Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr.'s unpleasant run-in with the criminal justice system. After all, it would hardly be the first time a black man had unjustly been hauled to jail by a white police officer. The debate -- really more of a shouting match -- is also about power and entitlement.

Would it be the first time a white man was unjustly hauled to jail by a black officer if the shoe were on the other foot? But, "it's about power and entitlement". Let's think about that for a bit -- do we not REGULARLY have all sort of white "celebrities" of various sorts in the news for everything from disorderly conduct, various driving problems, alchohol, drugs (even the very recreational pot use)?

Consider virtually any rock band? I try to pay as little attention as possible, but Brittany Spears, Mel Gibson, Rush Limbaugh (detained at Miami Airport for having Viagra without a prescription, along with his well known Oxycontin addiction). I'm sure I could go on, but so what?  "Powerful whites" don't get arrested?.  It seems VERY questionable based on evidence.

I'm talking about President Obama, obviously, but also Citigroup Chairman Richard Parsons, entertainment mogul Oprah Winfrey, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor and many others -- a growing number of minorities with the kind of serious power that used to be reserved for whites only. In academia, the list begins with "Skip" Gates.

So we move forward with the orignial suspect assertion. The REAL PROBLEM is that the POLICEMAN was somehow "pissed off" BECAUSE this "big cheese" was black -- otherwise he would have "turned the other cheek". But wait, I thought we CELEBRATED the "powerful" falling under the normal rule of law like everyone else? Young George Bush got a DWI even though his Dad was hugely wealthy and powerful. The Bush twins got busted for underage drinking WHILE their father was President. Even Teddy Kennedy at least had to file a police report for killing his young secretary. Had any of these folks decided to start screaming at the officers involved, I'd be surprised if they would have gotten much in the way of press or other left-wing sympathy.

Apparently, there was something about the power relationship involved -- uppity, jet-setting black professor vs. regular-guy, working-class white cop -- that Crowley couldn't abide. Judging by the overheated commentary that followed, that same something, whatever it might be, also makes conservatives forget that they believe in individual rights and oppose intrusive state power.

That paragraph is pretty rich. What have we here? The "Law and Order Democrats"?? Are we asserting that it is usually CONSERVATIVES that are on the side of "to hell with authority, let's abuse the fuzz"?? Police stopping by to see if your home is being robbed is NOT "intrusive state power" ... it is sort of "minimal expected government service". Would one actually to be in favor of police NOT doing that, one would be in favor of anarchy. What we have here is a naked (and poor) attempt to equate a view that private citizens need to observe basic compliance with government authorities doing their jobs with some sort of "racism". One hopes that the formulation is disingenous, else the author borders on the insane.

And then the big finish. If Lawrence Summers were to have gotten into a similar shouting match, there would have been no arrest. The columnist is secure in there being no way to "prove" such a thing -- non-arrests don't make much in the way of stories. The assumption is however that Larry Summers would have decided to get into a shouting match with the officer. Most all of us have had occasion to deal with police under various and nearly always stressful circumstances. How many of us have gotten into shouting matches with them? I'd hazard to say very few, or none -- the fact is that Larry Summers would be VERY unlikely to do so, since what HE would see is an officer simply trying to do their job and have absolutely no animosity about him doing it.

Yet Gates' fit of pique somehow became cause for arrest. I can't prove that if the Big Cheese in question had been a famous, brilliant Harvard professor who happened to be white -- say, presidential adviser Larry Summers, who's on leave from the university -- the outcome would have been different. I'd put money on it, though. Anybody wanna bet?

But Henry Gates is part of the "racial hatred industry" -- to him the white officer was a symbol, not a person. The officer was representative of the "oppressive racist white ruling class" -- and indeed, "didn't know who he was messing with". Were Henry Gates race baiting industry to die, he would no longer be famous -- his need for existence would cease to be. Gates was virtually REQUIRED to take umbrage at a white police officer in his home. To do otherwise would have  been impossible.

Likewise for BO -- in his books he complains about the "driving while black" syndrome. All of us have been pulled over at one time or another for what we saw as "no reason". When we are white, it is just "getting pulled over" -- for black Americans it is "racial profiling" plain and simple and there is no amount of logic or statistics that will change their mind.

Taxes Are Moral

Rangel under tax evasion investigations while promoting income surtax - WSJ.com

Well, they are if someone ELSE pays them!! Rangel is a well known crook to anyone that strays from the MSM sheep pasture. All this has appeared before, but suffice it to say Charlie believes it is the "moral duty" of OTHER Americans to pay much higher taxes -- it just isn't for HIM!!!

Why Be Afraid Of Government?

Commentary: Why be afraid of government? - CNN.com

I love the title. Were the Germans in WWII afraid of Government? How about the Russians in 1914? The Chinese after WWII? Nope, there is NEVER any reason to be "afraid" of larger and larger government -- the bigger the government the better as long as you are CNN, MPR or just a standard Democrat.

Of course the REASON for us to be OK with big government is:

And finally, Medicare has proven to be more popular than private insurance programs. So, for all the talk about hating big government, the big government seems to be doing something right, according to numerous polls. According to a Kaiser poll, 68 percent of respondents said they believed the Medicare program would put "your interests above their own" compared to 48 percent for private insurance.

Hey, it's popular!! And why not? The people on Medicare are getting VASTLY more than they paid in, and they are getting it all at the expense of current and future taxpayers!! What a GREAT SYSTEM!!! Just like bailouts, FICA, and the proposed "universal health", once a program is in place and the constituents of the program are enjoying ever growing benefits at the expense of others, the program is POPULAR!! ... and "popular = good". Popular government is a GOOD THING!!!

Only, a lot like "what goes up must come down", it is good right up until it isn't. Is now that breaking point? I have no idea, but anyone can look at deficits now in the Trillions per year and projected to be in the 10's of Trillions per year and realize "this isn't going to last. What is really funny to me is that Democrats used to yowl about "the Reagan deficits" or "the Bush deficits" when we were running low 100's of Billions in the midst of generally growing GDP. We were running deficits that were mid single digit % of GDP (the WORST Bush pre-Democrat Congress number was 5.3%, and even 2008 was only 7.4%) ... we are projected for 12%+ in 2009 and it just gets worse from here on out.

So deficits that were "5%" in a growing economy were enough to raise holy hell with constant talk of "irresponsibility", while deficits of 12% with a declining economy but your boy BO in the WH are fine? And some folks wonder why it is hard to respect a Democrat's honesty.

Wishful Shark Jumping

Big Hollywood » Blog Archive » Has Liberalism Jumped the Shark?

Fun little article to read. It would be nice if folks were figuring out that the empty suit messiah and his cronies never had any ideas about how to "get to good", but I think he has too much faith in the current america.

Columnists as Campaigners

Op-Ed Columnist - Costs and Compassion - NYTimes.com

I don’t know how many people understand the significance of Mr. Obama’s proposal to give MedPAC, the expert advisory board to Medicare, real power. But it’s a major step toward reducing the useless spending — the proliferation of procedures with no medical benefits — that bloats American health care costs.

Well, the significance is that a federal beauracratic board will tell you what works and what doesn't work, BUT, since BO and the Democrats refuse to bite the hand of the trial lawyers that feed them, the Doctor will be between the "rock" of the MedPAC board telling him "that test doesn't have a high enough effectiveness, so we won't pay" and the subsequent malpractice lawyer saying "are you aware that had you done test X there is an x% chance that the condition would have been found and little Susy would have been saved?". Damned if you do, damned if you don't ... something which government excels at!

Mr. Obama was especially good when he talked about controlling medical costs. And there’s a crucial lesson there — namely, that when it comes to reforming health care, compassion and cost-effectiveness go hand in hand.

But wait, the CBO says that BOcare will cost a TRILLION MORE than what we have now. I guess that "talk" is "especially good" when it is served up with a huge helping of chutzpa from Krugman's perspective. TALKING about less while spending a Trillion MORE is somehow acceptable, even though the Nobel Prize winning economist says "compassion and cost-effectiveness go hand in hand". Indeed -- an extra Trillion in economy wrecking deficits while a government agency cherry picks procedures on the basis of campaign contributions or phases of the moon doesn't sound all that compassionate to me.

Well, in the case of health care, one pill means continuing on our current path — a path along which health care premiums will continue to soar, the number of uninsured Americans will skyrocket and Medicare costs will break the federal budget. The other pill means reforming our system, guaranteeing health care for all Americans at the same time we make medicine more cost-effective.

How can one win a Nobel prize and think that sloppily? Really? There are ONLY two choices. 1). Do nothing 2). Do whatever it is that BO finally figures out that he wants (if he ever figures it out)? In this vast nation with 300 million people, there are ONLY TWO choices!!!  Wow, if you believe that, then you most likely voted for BO, and until you turn your brain on, there isn't much to discuss.