tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34696327623398045702024-03-05T21:06:41.289-05:00VRWCviburnumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15381796879179539552noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3469632762339804570.post-54587214712743045252020-05-30T22:16:00.000-04:002020-05-30T22:49:05.975-04:00Trigger<span style="font-size: large;"> What happened to George Floyd, was egregiously deplorable, despicable, and beyond the pale of any reasonable notion of law enforcement. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> Kneeling on the neck of a prone, handcuffed prisoner is completely reprehensible. People are angry. Americans are angry. And that includes every one of us, of every complexion. </span><span style="font-size: large;"> Being suspected of passing a counterfeit $20 bill is so
trivial an offense that it boggles the mind that it could possibly cost
someone his life. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> The three other officers that stood idly by while Mr. Floyd begged for his life are IMNHO equally culpable, and disgrace the tens of thousands of honest, upright police officers who carry out their duties dispassionately, equitably, fairly, and professionally. (disclaimer: yes I'm a lifelong friend and associate of numerous cops. I simply can't imagine any of them perpetrating this atrocity.) </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"> That being said, what we are seeing in our streets should come as no surprise. Many of us have seen it coming. The only question was from where? </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"> Government has been kneeling on all our necks since long before the middle of March. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"> Would the reaction come from the right? Those thousands of us telling autocratic governors to bugger off? From businesses determined that they had to open, or die? From workers who refused to be restrained by the risks others weren't willing to take? Or from the vast majority of us who deny the right of anyone to dictate our behavior?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;">Mr. Floyd, God rest his soul, was only the trigger. He will go down in history along with </span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;">Crispus Attucks, as being the innocent bystander who ignited a new revolution. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>viburnumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15381796879179539552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3469632762339804570.post-75768212530762729252020-05-02T19:22:00.001-04:002020-05-03T11:46:47.262-04:00Rise Up<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Amendment
I</span></b></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise
thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of
the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress
of grievances.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Amendment
XIV </span></b></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Section
1.</span></b></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">All persons born or naturalized in the
United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the
United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or
enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of
the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or
property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its
jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Amendment
X</span></b></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">The powers not delegated to the
United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are
reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">The operative phrase here being “nor
prohibited by it to the states”. The “police powers” claimed by the Governors of
the various states which are the current causes of complaint during this "epidemic”,
cannot, and should not, be viewed as having any power to abrogate our
fundamental rights, as that is beyond any reasonable dispute “prohibited by it
to the states”. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">If “Congress shall make no law…”, and
that injunction is applicable to the states via the 14<sup>th</sup> Amendment, by
what authority do the states presume to grant “emergency powers” through
legislation, or governors by executive order, that are clearly, by accident or
intent, an encroachment on our rights? If “Congress shall make no law” in any exigency
it must surely be beyond the purview of any state government, or state Governor,
to do so.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Rights are fundamental. They are “a
priori” the rights of all people, everywhere, at all times and places and under
every circumstance. We have for the majority of our history been blessed with a
government that at least payed lip service to that fact and has gone farther
than most in making it a reality. Unfortunately, it seems that those “times they
are a changing”. What else are the protestors in Michigan, or the surfers on Huntington Beach doing but "</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">petitioning the government for a redress
of their grievances"? Their grievances are well founded, and no government has any authority to silence them. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">We have been cowed into submission by
exaggerated prognostications, based on egregiously inaccurate modeling, that
has accomplished nothing but to render us malleable to the whims of those soi
disant “experts” who have no other goal than our subservience to their “models”.
</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Sheep, once herded, fear to break away
from the flock. Not for fear of predators, or of independence, but for fear of the sheep dogs. Therein lies the danger. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">That we should grant such power to the "servants of the people" turns our Republic into feudal serfdom. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">To coin a phrase: "Rise Up"</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
viburnumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15381796879179539552noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3469632762339804570.post-66488448507875065802012-12-25T08:48:00.000-05:002012-12-25T08:52:02.836-05:00Merry Christmas to All!!!A rather rare white Christmas around here.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrl6-S4IgVKrs5as4rD83a-RetfhGkg5d-ibtCKN591tPMar2KWZlda8SDsBXd2EoxuGTC5zKQ0U2awyX0tSeazNrx2wVGpOA2_mTjz1xjeqNWxFljF1UgByhiLESrcu3Z82ygaiAYHME/s1600/IMG_0788.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrl6-S4IgVKrs5as4rD83a-RetfhGkg5d-ibtCKN591tPMar2KWZlda8SDsBXd2EoxuGTC5zKQ0U2awyX0tSeazNrx2wVGpOA2_mTjz1xjeqNWxFljF1UgByhiLESrcu3Z82ygaiAYHME/s640/IMG_0788.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGN0nDtBnUweLFFs4Qz1aRLxBo116WqHirc3K5Rck_IAw2cPCDEfCRuJPdVu0_8tvt1aHaNby9K2L82CwzC6Qysn_Sv1FNhezlB3oTd5EE8joRan7DDIwJFHerbpqe0p6FOpbiLjOPGV8/s1600/IMG_0764.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGN0nDtBnUweLFFs4Qz1aRLxBo116WqHirc3K5Rck_IAw2cPCDEfCRuJPdVu0_8tvt1aHaNby9K2L82CwzC6Qysn_Sv1FNhezlB3oTd5EE8joRan7DDIwJFHerbpqe0p6FOpbiLjOPGV8/s640/IMG_0764.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fortunately too tall to lose in the snow</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj55a5R-j63jZqhqf5rWalUSYWNKZxhybJy90wRR12HuCA_yQqOoUJ4fPtIOp14-G0HNEZYftlrGm9SOsH2j5SK6be3GzH1cSuYc_wgeLalLCsviIGaW7ewTqc5TGMCk8i9jhL1YhzQX0w/s1600/IMG_0791.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj55a5R-j63jZqhqf5rWalUSYWNKZxhybJy90wRR12HuCA_yQqOoUJ4fPtIOp14-G0HNEZYftlrGm9SOsH2j5SK6be3GzH1cSuYc_wgeLalLCsviIGaW7ewTqc5TGMCk8i9jhL1YhzQX0w/s640/IMG_0791.JPG" width="640" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq8JEVvAagyRURjQtlvCO6f8Z6DH1JxYUZxzhv1TLMnbx47k62zx1pFwFo_9gp19iIn-1K3a-ge2H-p8GoR0UIjJbxknrAS64yvcsZVEKU6nMU4II9sCFWWeDUcR3sMimHEBlOHLQ8CqQ/s1600/IMG_0793.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq8JEVvAagyRURjQtlvCO6f8Z6DH1JxYUZxzhv1TLMnbx47k62zx1pFwFo_9gp19iIn-1K3a-ge2H-p8GoR0UIjJbxknrAS64yvcsZVEKU6nMU4II9sCFWWeDUcR3sMimHEBlOHLQ8CqQ/s640/IMG_0793.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />viburnumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15381796879179539552noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3469632762339804570.post-51739145796089820552012-09-03T08:58:00.003-04:002012-09-03T09:15:38.098-04:00National Empty Chair Day<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio0uJVcgO3VjPZWLGB7f_W8zYxuHo1b_dTAJTuKdBfgm2KmLdwCOfFhKNdkZm1xV4N8NjYO_mSeAVEJJmEEINr6jahFNsFYuKDo0qrA8OqpJLde60nfqbaICP-wX4wHdhgzo3oRK1Ktik/s1600/IMG_0745.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio0uJVcgO3VjPZWLGB7f_W8zYxuHo1b_dTAJTuKdBfgm2KmLdwCOfFhKNdkZm1xV4N8NjYO_mSeAVEJJmEEINr6jahFNsFYuKDo0qrA8OqpJLde60nfqbaICP-wX4wHdhgzo3oRK1Ktik/s640/IMG_0745.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Leaning left and on the rocks</span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<i><br />
“We own this country . . . Politicians are employees of ours . . . And
when somebody does not do the job, we’ve got to let them go.” –Clint
Eastwood</i><br />
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viburnumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15381796879179539552noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3469632762339804570.post-55395647557171677382012-06-15T21:56:00.000-04:002012-06-15T21:56:14.627-04:00A Cynical Ploy One of the chief virtues of our Constitution is the clarity with which it addresses the separate powers of the various branches of government. Each branch has it's role. The Congress, the branch most readily accountable to the people, to enact the laws. The Courts, the branch least subject to the vagaries of popular opinion, to interpret the laws and reconcile or remove conflicts within them. The executive to enforce the laws. <br /><br />
In the exact wording of the Constitution the duty of the President as regards the law, is as follows: "he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed" ( Article 2 Section 3 ) Not to create new laws, amend existing ones at whim, nor pick and choose which he would care to enforce.<br />
<br />
Today President Obama has once again, this time publicly, tread on the law, the Congress, the Constitution, and his oath to uphold it, by announcing a new policy substituting executive fiat for the rule of law.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/15/politics/immigration/index.html" target="_blank">http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/15/politics/immigration/index.html</a><br />
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That the purpose of this abrogation of his responsibility is cynically shameless pandering in the hope of garnering votes only renders such faithless dereliction of duty even more despicable.<br />
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<br /></div>viburnumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15381796879179539552noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3469632762339804570.post-67772112032505678832012-06-06T18:46:00.000-04:002012-06-06T18:46:21.746-04:00Can you hear them now? Scott Walker came out on top last night, but the real winner was democracy. The citizens of Wisconsin elected him a year and a half ago to rein in an out of control budget. Survival in this economy entails hard choices, whether for individuals, businesses, or governments at every level, and the people of Wisconsin are to be commended for their resolve in reiterating their determination not to be spent into bankruptcy to placate those used to sweetheart deals from politicians. <br />
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Scott Walker's kept his promise, balanced the budget, and is once again the clear choice of Wisconsin as governor. It's just a shame that they have been put to the trouble and expense of having to repeat themselves so soon by those who weren't listening the first time around.<br />
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<br />viburnumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15381796879179539552noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3469632762339804570.post-36065616791798382292012-05-28T08:32:00.001-04:002012-05-28T13:10:15.784-04:00There are no words Or maybe there are. <br />
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—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause
for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here
highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this
nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government
of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the
earth.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kZASM8OX7s" target="_blank">Farewell</a>viburnumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15381796879179539552noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3469632762339804570.post-27682552308596412932012-05-02T21:00:00.001-04:002012-05-02T21:00:31.072-04:00I, Me, Me, MineI'm told that the only time Dwight Eisenhower used the personal pronoun "I" in his announcement of the D-day invasion, was to tell his troops "I am very proud of you"<br />
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<a href="http://www.veteransforastrongamerica.org/vsa-spanks-obama-for-spiking-the-bin-laden-football/" target="_blank"> Spike</a><br />
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'nuff said?<br />
<br />viburnumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15381796879179539552noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3469632762339804570.post-89774555503978912462012-04-28T09:04:00.000-04:002012-04-28T10:02:17.761-04:00An Intolerable Act<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">"To what purpose are
powers limited, and to what purpose is that limitation committed to writing, if
these limits may, at any time, be passed by those intended to be
restrained?" </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">John Marshall. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> In almost surreptitious fashion, by the nearly
unanimous passing of another un-debated bill, the Federal government has trod
roughshod over several of our most basic freedoms. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-112hr347enr/pdf/BILLS-112hr347enr.pdf">http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-112hr347enr/pdf/BILLS-112hr347enr.pdf</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">The problem with the seemingly innocuous title: </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">‘‘Federal Restricted
Buildings</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> and Grounds Improvement Act of 2011’, is that it has damn little to do
with pointing the bricks and sprucing up the landscaping, and everything to do
with limiting the First Amendment. It gives authority to the Secret
Service to decide arbitrarily who does and doesn’t have access to the
sight and hearing of the President, and other officials under their protection, by making it a Federal offense to be within any perimeter that they deign to establish. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> No matter where on the political
spectrum you reside, this is a chilling prospect. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Handing over the
'context' under which we can express ourselves to arbitrary authority
confers an unconstitutional control over the content. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Free speech and the right of assembly are now at
the sole discretion of the head of some politician’s security detail. If they don’t want to hear you, or don’t want
you in view of the cameras, you can now be forced away under threat of a prison
sentence. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> Are we merely to trust in the
assurance that the intention is only to provide security, and that we won’t be silenced?
I think not. When our rights are at issue the only safe course is to
assume that the worst case scenario is inevitable. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>viburnumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15381796879179539552noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3469632762339804570.post-75566074994317681612012-04-23T07:28:00.000-04:002012-04-23T15:43:58.046-04:00Going to the Dogs<span style="font-size: large;"> I don't think I've ever experienced a more ridiculous argument in a political campaign than the current controversy raging over dogs. If I didn't know that even a broken clock was right twice a day, it would pain me to admit that I'm actually forced to agree with Keith Olbermann: “It raises the level of absurdity to something exponential” “With so many valuable questions going on, we’re wasting most of the time dealing with the dogs”.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> Allowing the media to channel the discussion into such nonsense as if it was the most momentous issue of the day doesn't augur well for the future reportage of the campaign. We deserve better, and should demand it, but as long as we let the carnival barkers lure us into side shows like this, it's all we're likely to get. </span><br />
<br />viburnumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15381796879179539552noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3469632762339804570.post-11628249502937786172012-04-14T18:55:00.000-04:002012-04-23T15:43:41.983-04:00Fair? Taxes?<span style="font-size: large;">I was going to write about the Buffett rule, but Mark Steyn has already done a much better, and funnier, job of crunching both the numbers and the concept than I could, so I'll give you a link to <a href="http://www.ocregister.com/opinion/buffett-349130-obama-tax.html" target="_blank">him</a> and take on a different aspect of Obama's presentation. The curious notion that our tax policies are somehow about "Fairness"</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> Webster's lists 11 different definitions for the word 'fair', but when used in politics it's generally taken to mean just and equitable. Even children understand that usage. If I called my twin grand-daughters over to the cookie jar and hand the first, one cookie, and give the second, two you can bet the house the farm and the dog that I'm going to hear "That's not fair", and she'd be right to call me on it.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> Fair means the same for everybody, right? Isn't that why we have the 14th Amendment? Assuring everyone of <i>the equal protection of the law</i>s? So why do we have an unfair, unjust, and inequitable tax system that takes <i>proportionately </i>more from some of us than others? Why are 5% of our taxpayers stuck with 60% of the bill, ( while earning 30% of the income ) while 47% get a free ride and the rest of us divvy up the difference?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> Try rounding up 19 of your friends for a night on the town, and get them to agree to draw lots to see who gets stuck with how much of the tab using those numbers. Good luck with that.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> The 16th Amendment states: The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from
whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States,
and without regard to any census or enumeration.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> And given our 'Progressive' income tax code, apparently without regard to the 14th Amendment </span>viburnumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15381796879179539552noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3469632762339804570.post-77549020708587221022012-04-08T01:07:00.001-04:002012-04-23T15:42:22.614-04:00Double Standard<span style="font-size: large;">It seems our President has something of a variable regard for majority rule. Mere hours after lecturing the Supreme Court on the deference due acts of Congress passed by, what he termed, "...a strong majority of a democratically elected Congress", his minions in the DOJ were in court in Massachusetts attempting to have the Defense of Marriage Act, signed into law by Bill Clinton in 1996, declared unconstitutional. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> Obama-care passed the House by 7 votes, 219-212 with 30 odd members of his own party voting against it. It's passage in the Senate was bought at a price of several hundred billion pork barrels spread among half a dozen states.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> By comparison DOMA passed the House 342-67 and the Senate by a vote of 85-14</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Dare we to think his only guiding principle is partisan political expedience?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://campaign2012.washingtonexaminer.com/article/obama-legal-precedents-are-all-about-politics/466961">http://campaign2012.washingtonexaminer.com/article/obama-legal-precedents-are-all-about-politics/466961</a></span><br />
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<br />viburnumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15381796879179539552noreply@blogger.com8