Making College Count

WHen Hillary Clinton claimed to be working for "hard-working Americans", Oh Blah Blah's camp claimed this was a racist code-word. (Which betrays a certain pessimism about African Americans and their work ethicc from Oh Blah Blah.) Tonight Michelle used the phrase herself to describe the people that Oh Blah Blah works for. Michelle never broached the issue of higher education, and why Oh Blah Blah thinks everyone deserves a Bachelor's Degree. What will it mean to have a college education in a world in which it has been dumbed down to the point where it means no more than a Hiigh School education does now. A better goal would be promoting young people studying math and science, leaving non-entities like gender studies and African American studies behind as a relic of the politically correct 90s.

Stupid Conservatives

Apparently, some conservatives are actually planning to vote for Oh-Blah-Blah. Obviously, these people missed watching him in action during a hearing about the Iraq War. On the panel were General Petraus and an official from the State Department. The man from the State Department mentioned that Iran is helping the insurgency with men and weapons. Oh-Blah-Blah said with alacrity "Don't you think you should tell the Iraqi government?" The idea of someone so stupid or so out of touch becoming president should scare any conservative, or intelligent liberal for that matter.

National Interests

"If we do not permit our members to act on a very enlarged view of things; we shall at length infallibly degrade our national representation into a confused and scuffling bustle of local agency."
Edmund Burke
1780 Guildhall Speech

Economic Recovery

"Those who have much, need much; and, on the contrary, those who limit their possessions to their natural needs, rather than to their excessive ambitions, need very little. "

Boethius
The Consolation of Philosophy

(Green trans.)
Book Two, Prose Five

Ahmadinejad?

"Behold, thou art with child, and then shall bring forth a son, and shall call his name Ishmael, because the Lord has heard the cry of thy humiliation. He shall be a rude man, his hand shall be against every man, and every man's hand against him."
Genesis 16:8
Quoted in De Fuga et Inventione
Philo of Alexandria

Monkey Business

A n Utah firm planned to introduce a sock monkey made to resemble Oh-Blah-Blah, raising a firestorm of anger over the racism of comparing Oh-Blah-Blah to a monkey. Ten years ago, I would have been angered by this, but I am not now. Over the past eight years, criticism of George W. Bush has been so ugly, so unfair, and so exaggerated that this seems almost what a Democratic candidate deserves. First Bush was called stupid. Then he became subhuman- - another blogger refers to him as The Smirking Chimp. After that, he became Bush The Retard. What's more, Bush has been called Hitler. WHy is it that liberals can call Bush whatever they like, but Oh-Blah-Blah is untouchable? If the Republican candidate were black, would it be OK to call him a monkey? Apparently.

No Birth, No Birthright

Barack Obama has stated that a college education is the birthright of every American. But how can you on one hand support unrestricted abortion on one hand, and then say that every baby has the right to higher education? Can you really say that before birth one has no rights, but upon birth you are owed your higher education?

Grandstanding "Conservative"

Madame Disraeli has announced that she will campaign for Hillary Clinton if McCain is the Republican candidate. Well, that makes perfect sense. If the present occupant of the White House hasn't been enough of a liberal for Mde. Disraeli, now she wants the next President to be even worse. Whatever else you can say about John McCain, at least he opposes abortion. If Disraeli thinks Hillary is better, she either needs to out herself as a liberal, or seek psycho-analysis. Hilary conservative? Come on!

Rinky Dink Reading Lists

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was recently given $1 million by banker John Allison on the condition that the University make Ayn Rand's novel Atlas Shrugged required reading.

Religious studies Professor Richard Cohen responded "It's going to make us look like a rinky-dink university. It's like teaching the Bible as a requirement." First of all, professors continue to make garbage like I Rigoberta Menchu and the musings of Michel Foucault required reading (not to mention the writings of Karl Marx). If atheistic left wingers are a legitimate subject, then why is the atheistic right-winger Rand off-limits? Second, why does Richard Cohen teach religious studies if the Bible offends him? What text does Cohen use in teaching about religion? It is high time that colleges have some balance in what students are expected to read. Allison is on the right track.

Worse Than Terrorists?

What does the judicial system's make up have to do with slavery (See my previous blog "Making slaves of free men")? The fact that liberals force their pro-abortion preferences on the Judiciary is much like what the slavery advocates did before the CIvil War. Even Chief Justice Roberts was asked at his confirmation about whether or not he believed in "the right to privacy," liberal-speak for abortion-on-demand. It is much like the way that slavery advocates jealously guarded every seat in Congress, and insisted on new slave states (including their dream- - five slave states to come out of Texas. ) The ultimate misuse was that of Justice Taney and Dred Scott. In much the same way, the pro-life movement is harassed, marginalized, and treated as terrorists. Indeed, with the current Democratic proclivities, being pro-life is worse than being a terrorist. Lincoln said that the Democrats of his time were making slaves out of free men, and by that Lincoln meant that slavery supporters were taking away what power the opponents of slavery had. Witness tha near-death of Senator Charles Sumner at the hands of a slavery supporter, a crime committed on the very floor of the Senate chamber. With the pro-abortion headlock on the judiciary, it is only likely to get worse for abortion opponents.

Your Name In Print

All three presidential hopefuls have written a book. Does this mean that the three are great thinkers, or that they're grandiose self-promoters? I don't recall Lincoln being a published writer, but that racist rascal Woodrow Wilson wrote several books.

Making Slaves of Free Men

For in order to prove that Americans have no right to their liberties, we are every day endeavoring to subvert the maxims which preserve the whole spirit of our own.
Edmund Burke
Conciliation With America, 1775

The Basketball Intellectuals

Percy Shelley once said that poets were the unacknowledged rulers of the world. Today it seems that sports figures are the unacknowledged legislators. Two cases in point: Rick Majerus, a basketball coach, declared himself to be in favor of both abortion and Hillary Clinton. Majerus works for a Catholic university, and Estase read an account of his stump speech where the journalist claimed that Majerus should be given "intellectual freedom" to say things his employer is sworn to oppose. First of all, there is nothing "intellectual" about being an athletic coach. Second, doesn't a Catholic organization have a right to ask its employees to avoid contradicting its own teachings? Would it be "intellectual freedom" for a Yeshiva to allow David Duke to join its staff?

Today, Charles Barkley, a professional basketball player, announced that he supported Barack Obama, also stating that Christians cannot "judge" others, and thus Christians are hypocrites. So let Estase get this straight- - you have a right to practice morality, but have no right to question the behavior of others. Would this mean that Dr. King had no right to speak out against racism? After all, that requires one to judge racists guilty of something, and Mr. Barkley says we cannot judge others. Ad infinitum, ad absurdum, ad nauseum.

Lost Causes and Opportunites Lost

Pro-lifers and opponents of oppression?

"If you succeed, you save those who cannot so much as give you thanks." Edmund Burke

Every Trifling Thing

Should the government interfere with commerce, as is depicted in this quote about the expansive government of pre-revolution France?

In other countries trade supports the state; in this the state must support trade: every trifling thing here requires the hand of government.

Lt. Colonel Alexander Jardine, quoted in John Lough's France on the Eve of Revolution

Natural Right

"Indeed, this formal recognition, by the sovereign power, of an original right in the subject, can never be subverted, but by rooting up the holding radical principles of government, and even of society itself."
Edmund Burke
Speech on Fox's East India Bill

New Perversion

A person calling himself Hunter at Daily Kos has brought forward a novel theory about perversion. Republicans are all (we are told) sexual perverts. I'll let the reader diagnose this person.

No shoving pictures of fetuses in people's faces, or taking their own daughters into "chastity vows", or pontificating about the dangers of man-on-dog relationships? Seriously, is this why Republicans are always so obsessed with governing everybody else's sex life- -because it's simply inconcievable to them that any two people would have a healthy non-messed-up relationship?

So anyone who opposes abortion is a pervert. And people who don't want their daughters to get pregnant or diseased in order to help give some creep twenty minutes of sexual pleasute are perverts too. The ones who really want to govern people's sex lives are the liberals who hand out free condoms. Incidently, these are the same people who want kids to lose their virginity before they know how to divide fractions. If thinking abortion is wrong is perversion, then Estase is a pervert. I suppose Hunter thinks Bill Clinton is healthy. Go figure.

The Reason Bugaboo

"I had rather be thought insane in my charity than rational in my malice."

Edmund Burke
Letter to Richard Burke, 1791

World Trade Center

Mamoud Akmenijad (hope I spelled it right) wanted to visit ground zero in New York. Estase found a copy of the speech he wanted to deliver there.

"We stand here upon the ground where many good men laid doen their lives in one battle of this great war. The sacrifices made here will never be forgotten. Nineteen brave soldiers of Allah defended the only true religion by bringing death to the infidel. By their sacrifice, 3000 pigs and monkeys died while engaged in their greedy commercial theft. But the war is not over, my friends. Not until the Zionist infidel are gone from the levant will Islam be vindicated. Some of you feel my country should not have nuclear weapons. You people have nuclear weapons, so you are hypocrites for keeping Iran from its peaceful nuclear program. You Americans must either do as we say, or many more of you pigs and monkeys will die. Allah Akbar! "

Apologies to Lawrence Sterne

So John Kerry and George W.Bush were both Skull and Bones. . .

Well Trim decided he wanted to be President. In 2004, he decided to run against Uncle Toby. So Trim thought the time he had spent in the army would help him. His friend Dan spread the word that Uncle Toby was not really in the army. But that wasn't true. So Trim tried to make himself a war hero, when in reality he was on the hobby horse with Daniel Ortega. So Trim lost the election, but retains a solid military bearing he never had when he actually was a soldier. But nitwits are the only ones to believe that Trim wasn't really trying.

Military Expert Harry Reid

Old Blood and Guts himself, Harry Reid, has declared that the war is being lost because of Bush's "failed policies." Which policies are these? Since the Democrats have had nothing but opposition to the war from the beginning, it isn't clear that they actually have a policy on the war. I remember over a year ago, Howard Dean claimed the war couldn't be won. The Deans and Reids of the world favor the policy of complaining that there is a war at all. Their minds have never been applied to how we best can fight Al-Qaeda, and instead have tried to make the war an albatross around George W. Bush's neck. The failed policy turns out to be any military action under anyone other than the Democrats.

Margaret Sanger?

Today I read a book that was supposedly about eugenics. The ideas of both Nazi era racial hygeine theorists and long-forgotten bit players in the American eugenics movement were shown to have intersected at numerous points. The author's political bias was clear, as he joyfully pointed out that Presidents Hoover and Reagan had praised two of the American eugenics advocates. But one name never was mentioned, and this is a name liberals exult in. Margaret Sanger was an advocate for involuntary sterilization of the retarded and disabled. The organization she started, Planned Parenthood, was never mentioned in the book. That same organization is now America's number-one provider of abortions.
I don't know how you can write a book about eugenics that mentions Ronald Reagan, but not Margaret Sanger. Obviously, the author of this book had a selective bias towards Planned Parenthood. As for Estase, he knows that he will never vote for Rudy Guliani because he has personally given money to this despicable group of baby killers.

All Bush's Fault?

It seems to me that Democrats running for President have stopped giving an overall viewpoint about what they stand for. "I want to pull us out of Iraq!" "I want to pull us out faster!" "I want to pull out instantly!" Clinton says President Bush can't see most Americans. Obama says we're killing civilians with bombing raids only he seems to know about. The Democrats only seem to focus on Iraq. This is because they have created a mythology based on George W. Bush. Bush has been blamed for everything that has happened to the U.S. in the past seven years. The mythology says that only Democrats have good intentions, only Democrats are smart, only Democrats have integrity. The fact of the matter is that Democrats are cynical opportunists, moral hypocrites, empty suits. How can you claim to love children, and then turn around and vote for late term abortions? How can you call Republicans corrupt, and then talk about electing the woman who scoured Vince Fosters office within hours of his death? How do you claim to empathize with ordinary Americans, and then get a $400 haircut? How can you claim to want to fight Al-Qaeda, and then surrender Iraq to them?

But it's all Bush's fault, right?

Morton's Fork

If the persons applied to for a benevolence live frugally, tell them their parsimony must have enriched them and therefore the king may expect from them a liberal donation; if their method of living on the contrary be extravagant, tell them they can afford to give largely, since the proof of their opulance is evident from their great expenditures.

Archbishop Morton as recounted in Thomas
B.Costain's The Last Plantagenets

Corrupt As Hell

Mayor Daley has started a program to end homelessness in Chicago. The ten-year plan calls for the city to buy a new truck for each homeless person. The homeless people can then rent each truck for city use. Why not; it's what Daley's friends have been doing for years.

Free to Do What?

"Abstract liberty, like other mere abstractions, is not to be found. Liberty inheres in some sensible object; and every nation has formed to itself some favorite point, which by way of eminence becomes the criterion of their happiness."

Edmund Burke
Conciliation WIth America, 1775

Hypocritical Kos

The great folks at Daily Kos did themselves a disservice when they, on their own site, showed a picture of Senator Joseph Lieberman that looked like Lieberman was performing Clinton sex on President Bush. The photo was on Daily Kos apparently, and the fools showed this tasteless picture again in a copy of the O'Reilly Factor. The Kos people apparently thought this was some kind of real feather in their cap. Not only were they proud of smearing Lieberman (who only seven years ago was the vice-presidential nominee of the party advocated by Daily Kos), they were proud to share the O'Reilly response. I don't know what O'Reilly said (because I only have dial-up, being a poor Republican), so I suppose the Kosites felt they came out on top, and not in any sexual way. The liberals all tell us that Clinton sex, like all sex, is wonderful. They also tell us that homosexuality is normal. But they're all lying. They must think homosexuality is laughably perverted, or otherwise there would be nothing funny about joking that Senator Lieberman is a homosexual. Democrats don't really like homosexuals. Homosexual men generally have good jobs. They have no kids. Democrats like homosexuals because they pump money into Democratic coffers. I wonder what self-described liberals like Rosie O'Donnell would think of their brethren making a gay joke about a man whose worse crime is supporting our troops in Iraq.

Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum

I don't think my individual opinions are very important, and I have no way of knowing what persons read my blog. Despite this, I will express my hopes and fears about the coming elections of 2008. The idiotic Richard Durbin will win reelection. Why do I know this? I know that Illinois Republicans are suffering a crisis of self-definintion. Illinois Republicans are unwilling to define themselves in a meaningful way. They aren't pro-life, but they aren't as committed to abortion as the Democrats. They don't want huge spending increases, but show little interest in means testing Governor Blagojevich's disasterous All Kids program.
Illinois Republicans show little interest in poking fun at the senior senator's lack of mental gifts. If the shoe was on the other foot, Democrats would make jokes about the idiocy of Senator Durbin. (If you don't believe me, look at leftist blogs and count the number of retard jokes made about President Bush.)

The Republican National Commitee is having less trouble, but still seems unable to come up with a candidate strong enough to make for a real fight with Hillary Clinton. Romney and Guliani are too similar to Hillary for their candidacies to win. A pro abortion Democrat versus a pro abortion Republican is nothing but a waste of time.

The Truth

The person who supplied the last blog quote was Mao Zedong. It's really not a good thing when people holding congressional seats sound like a discredited communist tyrant.

Take a Guess!

"U.S. imperialism invaded China's territory of Taiwan and has occupied it for the past nine years. A short while ago it sent its armed forces to invade and occupy Lebanon. The United States has set up hundreds of military bases in many countries all over the world. China's territory of Taiwan, Lebanon and all military bases of the United States on foreign soil are so many nooses round the neck of U.S. imperialism. The nooses have been fashioned by the Americans themselves and by nobody else, and it is they themselves who have. . .handing the ends of the ropes to the Chinese people, the peoples of the Arab countries and all the peoples of the world who love peace and oppose aggression. The longer the U.S. aggressors remain in those places, the tighter the nooses round their necks will become."

Who do you think said this? Bela Pelosi? Harry Reid? Hugo Chavez?

Collective Rights

"neither a general in war, nor a statesman in peace, could ever perform any glorious exploits, or do any notable service to the public, without the concurrence of other men's endeavors?"

"there is such a thing as natural society, which comprehends all men. . . ."

"Such things, therefore, being by nature common, should accordingly be kept open for the free use of all men; and of those which are our own we should always be giving something that may contribute to the benefit and welfare of the whole."

"Not but that a moderate desire of riches, and bettering a man's estate, so long as it abstains from oppressing others, is allowable enough; but a very great care ought always to be taken that we be not drawn to any injustice by it."

"There is no great difficulty in determining such cases; for it is certain, if you take away anything from another, though never so useless and insignificant creature. . . it is an inhuman action, and plainly contrary to the laws of nature. . . ."

"It [theft] ruins all manner of society and intercourse amongst men; since it is plain that if once men arrive at such a pass as to plunder and injure the rest of their neighbors. . . ."

"Should an ignorant body sell a quantity of gold, and suppose it to be copper; is a good man obliged to tell him that is gold, or may he buy for a penny what is worth a thousand pence?"

Cicero De Officiis

Madame Disraeli

I recently wrote a blog about the Darfur situation based on my reaction to a Ann Coulter piece called " If at First You Don't Appease, Cry Cry Again." Besides having an insipid title, Ms. Coulter's piece stated that the lives being lost to Muslim murderers should mean nothing to Americans, and implied that only soft- headed liberals favored our using force to stop the genocide.

The before mentioned blog was entitled "Ann Coulter Takes On the Micks," and was written as Ms. Coulter's supposed response to the Irish Famine of 1845-1848. Today I found a piece of writing in Robert Blake's Disraeli by its subject that comes eerily close to my Coulter blog.

"You must not mistake her jolly good nature as an evidence of feeling: it is merely the impulse of the Irish blood. Indeed she is so thoroughly a daughter of Erin that I never see her without thinking of a hod of mortar and a potatoe. Nature certainly intended that she should console her sorrows in poteen. . . " (p. 149).

Ah yes, the drunk Irish joke. It goes well with shameless politicos and self appointed conservative spokeswomen. Incidentally, if I ever have cause to mention Ms. Coulter in the future, I will refer to her as " Madame Disraeli."

Proud Member of the Iraq War Death Machine

I just looked at today's Daily Kos, and it's hard to avoid thinking that these people don't understand the real world. Not even a little. First, they included an article from a gay guy who was ridiculing Christians who encourage young men to avoid homosexuality. "I prayed with my priest to resist my homosexual urges. After we had sex." Oh, that's so funny. Way to be edgy, making fun of Catholic priests. That's really going out on a limb.

Then there was a lot of crap about Iraq. It was the usual Trouble-Free Internationalism. "Stop the Iraq War Death Machine." Of course, the gay guy who bashed Catholics would be a cinder if it weren't for the World War II Death Machine that, at the cost of several times as many dead Americans, destroyed the scariest threat to homosexuals and Jews that ever existed. It's almost like Daily Kos people think that Democracy exists because it just happens to be stronger, whereas it exists because millions of British and American 19 year olds died to defend it.

Then there were several French quotes. Apparently, stupid ideas sound smarter when expressed in French. Why don't these people stop doing drugs, and wake up to the fact that Al-Qaeda wants us dead?

Homeland Security

"Judging that he will have employed the most effectual means of being a happy and powerful king, not by governing the most numerous but the most moral people. He deemed of small sufficiency to have protected the country by fleets and garrison, unless he should at the same time enrich and ornament it with men of eminent learning and sanctity."
Erasmus

Illegal Since 1492

i just saw a photo of an illegal alien holding a sign that said, "All Europeans in North America are illegal since 1492." So anyone who isn't a pure mestizo needs to leave, apparently. And what about Africans since 1492? Everybody forgets that blacks lose their jobs to the flood of Mexicans. Communist guerillas kill Christians in Chiapas. If Europeans are so awful, why is it that no one sneaks from the EEUU into Mexico?

Involuntary Association, Part Two

It must be agreed that the ancient and original power of the people, which has been transferred to diverse types of kingdoms and commonwealths by legislation or custom, is maintained in governments by that same right that was originally in the people. And it is reasonable that the fundamental laws and customs of a kingdom or commonwealth be accepted as ancient boundaries, to be holy and inviolable.

Francis Bacon
Aphorismi 11

Isn't It Ironic?

Governor Blagojevich took power because of the actions of an unethical pharmacist named George Ryan. Now he wants Plan B to be distributed by pharmacists, even if that violates the pharmacist's conscience. Does this strike anyone else as ironic?

Blagojevich's best friend in East-central Iliinois is State Senator Mike Frerichs, who went to Yale, but can't find the city hall in Sidney Illinois. Once again, does this strike anyone else as ironic?

Ann Coulter Takes On the Micks!

It is no business of Great Britain whether or not the people of Ireland starve! These people are lazy drunks who never do anything but drink and copulate. It would be a violation of capitalism to send food to Ireland. Sending food to Ireland will do nothing to make Britain stronger or wealthier.
Great Britain should instead take the money that would have been wasted by the do-gooders on the Irish, and instead spend it on a new regiment to be sent to the Crimea. Britain owes nothing to the popish trash to the west.

Good Thinking!

In a manner resembling the use by Ruth Bader Ginsburg of foreign cases to make American law, German Judge Christa Datz-Winter ruled an abused Muslim woman could not recieve a swift divorce because Islamic Law allows men to beat their wives. Judicial Activism rides again.

Hugo Hates Your Capitalist Ass

Hall of Fame

Last Sunday, Bill Clinton was inducted into the Voting Rights Hall of Fame. Here are some suggestions for other halls of fame.
Hugo Chavez Latino Marxist Hall of Fame
Jesse Jackson Meglomaniacs of Color Hall of Fame
Britney Spears Boring Has-Beens Hall of Fame
Dr. Phil Media Whores Hall of Fame
John Mayer No Talent Hippy Hall of Fame
Rush Limbaugh Vicodin Users Hall of Fame

Wake Up, Republicans!

"Conservatism doesn't Work" Is this statement true? Well, it all depends on what you want it to do. If by "work" one means that it will make you rich, probably not. If by "work" you mean it will help to promote homosexuality or pornography, no, it won't. In the Keynesian era, conservatism and liberals are different in degree, not in type. Cultural issues like protecting families and reigning in what schools teach about sex are THE issues for Republicans. The fact of the matter is that libertarian Republicans are identical to the liberals on these issues. Judy Baar Topinka lost the election because she poised herself as a "center-right" candidate.

Illinois Railsplitters

Estase is an alumnus of the University of Illinois, which has decided to abandon Chief Illiniwek as its symbol. Estase suggests that the U of I takes on as its new symbol the Railsplitters, as a reference to Abraham Lincoln. Not only was Lincoln tied to Illinois, but the Railsplitters has a wholesome, athletic sound to it. Imagine the Assembly Hall faithful waving styrofoam axes as a token of enthusiasm. And even scumball liberals can't object to Lincoln!

This is on a different topic, but Estase would like to extend a hearty BOO! for Congressman Tim Johnson for his decision to favor Trouble-Free internationalism. In Estase's book, Congressman Johnson deserves to be ranked up there with Neville Chamberlain for his high minded foreign policy.

The Threat of Plan B

This letter to a local newspaper deserves wider readership.
" Normal low-dose birth control pills (also horomones) are not available without a prescription because they entail some serious health risks if not taken under the supervision of a physician. These risks can include blood clots, stroke, heart attack, and indirect links to certain gynecological cancers. These risks can be magnified by other health conditions and lifestyles, and because of this, the FDA has deemed that these low-dose horomones need physician oversight for prescribing. If the normal dose of birth control medication has been deemed risky enough by the FDA and most women's health advocates to require physician oversight, why should Plan B of much higher horomone amounts not also require it? No long term studies have been performed to determine if Plan B is safe with repeated or long-term use, yet granting Plan B over-the-counter status would send the message that it is safe. Without physician oversight, women may obtain an over-the-counter version of Plan B well after the 72-hour window and actually be causing an abortion, while imposing significant health risks to themselves. The availability of Plan B without a prescription creates a false sense of security in women, particularly adolescents, whose only concern tends to be pregnancy."
Jennifer S. Schroeder M.D.

Virtue and the Body

"How then came it about that, of all the existing species, mankind alone should relinquish man's nature, forget the body, and find its Chief Good not in the whole man but in a part of man?"
Cicero
De Finibus Bonorum et Malorum
Rackaham trans. Book Four

Merit and Power

And I see as little of policy or utility as there is of right in laying down a principle that a majority of men told by the head are to be considered, and that as such their will is to be law. What policy can there be found in arrangements made in defiance of every political principle? To enable men to act with the weight and character of a people, and to answer the end for which they are incorporated into that capacity, or must suppose them (by means immediate or consequential) to be in that state of habitual social discipline in which the wiser, the more expert, and the more opulant conduct, and by conducting enlighten and protect, the weaker, the less knowing, and the less provided with the goods of fortune.

Edmund Burke Appeal From the New to
the Old Whigs

An Unhappy Anniversary

Laws are to be passed by legislatures in a republic. They take their legitimacy from the fact that these legislatures are elected by the public.
Judicial review is based on the fact that written laws include certain rules that are constitutionally instituted. For example, if there was a law against some form of speech, it would fall to judicial review to determine if the written law violated the written Constitution.
Where courts go wrong is by creating rights that are not in the written Constitution. For example, Roe v. Wade says that the right to abortion exists because of analogous rights elsewhere in the Constitution. The right to protection from having one's house searched without a warrant becomes something else. The "right to privacy" is consistent with the written Constitution, but appears nowhere in it.

One Faithful Harp

The minstrel boy to the war is gone, in the ranks of death you'll find him; His father's sword he hath girded on, and his wild harp slung behind him; "Land of Song!" cried the warrior bard, Tho' all the world betrays thee, one sword at least, thy rights shall guard, one faithful harp shall praise thee!" The minstrel fell! but the foeman's steel could not bring that proud soul under, the harp he lov'd ne'er spoke again, for he tore its chords asunder; And said "No chains shall sully thee, thou soul of love and brav'ry! Thy songs were made for the pure and free, they should never sound in slavery!"
Thomas Moore 1779-1852

Families Similar to Polities

"In some cases the subordinate relations are voluntary, in others they are necessary; but the duties are all compulsive. When we marry, the choice is voluntary, but the duties are not matter of choice; they are dictated by the nature of the situation. Dark and unscrutable are the ways by which we come into the world."
Edmund Burke, "An Appeal From the New to the Old Whigs"

Celebrities As Political Experts

Samuel L. Jackson recently called for a pullout from Iraq. Estase is sad to see one of his favorite actors advocating something so stupid. At least I haven't heard that Lawrence Fishburne is advocating trouble free internationalism. Morpheus is one of the coolest things in the Matrix movies. Incidentally, what qualifies actors for making pronouncements on foreign policy? It reminds me of Bishops condemning tax policy or nuclear weapons. Stick to what you've spent time thinking about, Cardinal Mahony.

Involuntary Association

Now, though civil society might be at first a voluntary act (which in many cases it undoubtably was), its continuance is under a permanent standing covenant, coexisting with the society; and it attaches upon every individual of that society; and it attaches upon every individual of that society, without any formal act of his own. This is warranted by the general practice, arising out of the general sense of mankind. Men without their choice they are subjected to duties in consequence of these benefits: and without their choice they enter into a virtual obligation as binding as any that is actual.

Burke "An Appeal From the New to the Old
Whigs"

Republican Post-Mortum

Why did Republicans suffer the loss of the House in November? Due to my other responsibilities, I couln't give analysis at the time, but I will now. What did Congressional Republicans do to stop the runaway spending when they held power? To my knowledge, nothing. Did they enact the term limits Newt Gingerich called for in 1994? Hardly- - they seemed to forget all about the advantages of citizen legislators, going so far as to increase incumbent advantages.
Why did Judy Baar Topinka lose her challenge to Governor Rod Blagojevich? Before her candidacy was even announced, Topinka in 2005 gloated that Alan Keyes lost because " Illinoisans want a center-right government." In a contest between a pro-abortion Republican and a rabidly pro-abortion Democrat, Estase voted for the pro-abortion Republican. He did not want a "center-right" governor, but had no choice but vote for an insipid, charmless time-server. The Illinois Republican party is a mess. The new year will include Dick Durbin's campaign for reelection. Illinois Republicans should be able to defeat the laughably stupid Durbin, but they won't as long as the party leadership puts forward candidates who are no different from the Democrats. No more pro-abortion Republicans!
Please!!!

Baldwin Blows

Apparently Professor Jean Kirkpatrick died this week. She was a voice for treating our enemies like enemies. Actor Alec Baldwin chose to say that Dr. Kirkpatrick was a war-monger, and questioned her sexuality. So Alec, here's Estase's hope that what goes around comes around. On the day you die, I hope people insult you and soon forget your stupid, meaningless life.

The Two Possibilties

The psychotic and/or ideological ass-wipe at the head of the Islamic Republic of Iran recently wrote a letter to the American people. I would include the text of this maniac's remarks, but I'm sure they can be found elsewhere on the net. The remarkable thing about his remarks is that they are indistinguishable from the words of the press and Democratic party. The same concerns (waste of life and money, the "futility" of the war) as what we have heard from the Pelosis and Murthas are now echoed by the leader of the most dangerous man in Southwest Asia. When an obvious enemy of the Free World says things that are indistinguishable from the words of the majority party in Congress, we have to conclude one of two things. One, the Iranian president is really a kind and generous man, or, two, the Democratic Party has become subversive to American liberty.
There is no third possibility.

Draft Dodger's Wife Tells Abizaid His Job

"Hope is not a strategy. Horatory talk about what the Iraqi government must do is getting old. I mean, I have heard over and over again the government must do this, the Iraqi army must do that. Nobody disagrees with that. The brutal fact is, it is not happening."
Military expert Hillary Rodham Clinton

What Catiline Didn't Do

And the nature of man, he said, is such, that as it were a code of law subsists between the individual and the human race, so that he who upholds this code will be just and he who departs from it, unjust. But just as, though the theatre is a public place, yet it is correct to say that the particular seat a man has taken belongs to him, so in the state or in the universe, though these are common to all, no principle of justice militates against the possession of private property. Again, since we see that man is designed by nature to safeguard and protect his fellows, it follows from this natural disposition, that the Wise Man should desire to engage in politics and government, and also to live in accordance with nature by taking himself a wife and desiring to have children by her.

Cicero, On Final Good and Evil, Rackham
trans., 289.

Popularity

For my part I hold that what is popular is often positively base, and that, if ever it is not base, this is only when the multitude happens to applaud something that is right and praiseworthy in and for itself; which even so is not called "moral" (honorable) because it is widely applauded, but because it is of such a nature that even if men were unaware of its existance, or never spoke of it, it would still be worthy of praise for its own beauty and loveliness. Cicero On Final Good and Evil Rackham trans., p137.

Samson Leftism

One really wonders how the Democrats will govern, since they campaigned on nothing but Bush and Iraq. Their only stated objective is to impeach the president. They seem more destructive than constructive.

On a similar note, student government at Orange Coast College in Los Angeles will not permit the use of the Pledge of Allegiance. Fine. The U.S. government can't stop them, but it seems only fair to me if it denied Federal funding to Orange Coast College. This will never happen with liberals in charge. Why is it that the socialist left pretends to be courageous about defying the rest of us, but the rest of us refuses to penalize them? It would be nice if we gave them an actual reason for feeling courageous.

Passions

Burke- Society requires not only that the passions of individuals should be subjected, but that even in the mass and body as well as in the individuals, the inclinations of men should frequently be thwarted, their will controlled, and their passions brought into subjection.

Hume- Reason is and ought only to be the slave of the passions, and can never pretend to any other office than to serve and obey them.

Kerry Didn't Say What He Said!

The Sixties holdovers strike again! In exactly the same way that Dick Durbin did! Kerry, who pretends to be a war hero when it suits him, says that America's servicemen are losers! See my ancient blog "Right for the Wrong Reason." The similarities of Durbin comparing servicemen to the Nazis, Michael Moore claiming America brings misery to every place it involves itself, and the new Kerry quote are easy to triangulate. These three show that Democrats hate our military, or at least the MoveOn.com types do. They think our military is a jobs program. They don't believe in fighting our enemies, choosing instead to call the president Hitler. They disagree with a war that Kerry himself voted for. And their fondest dream is to impeach the president for "lying." Kerry supported the war when he thought it would be a short-lived pep rally like Desert Storm/Gulf War I was like. And now Kerry can't even take the heat for something he said freely.

Cicero versus Catilina

You can see them about, lovely young men with elegantly combed hair, either beardless or bearded to excess, wearing tunics that reach down to the wrists and ankles, and togas which look more like veils. Their entire interest in life and all the alertness they can muster are squandered on parties that last all night long. In these gangs are to be found every gambler, adulterer, debauchee and sensualist who exists. These soft and pretty boys are experts at making love and having love made to them, and they know how to dance and sing; but they have also learnt to wave daggers about and sprinkle poisons.

Michael Grant, translator

Doctor Burke

I reprobate no form of government merely upon abstract principles. There may be situations in which the purely democratic form will become necessary. There may be some (very few and very particularly circumstanced) where it would clearly be desirable. This I do not take to be the case of France, or of any other great country. Until now, we have seen no examples of considerable democracies. The antients were better acquainted with them. Not being wholly unread in the authors, who had seen the most of those constitutions, and who best understood them, I cannot help concurring with their opinion, that an absolute democracy, no more than absolute monarchy, is to be reckoned among the legitimate forms of government.
Edmund Burke
Reflections on the Revolution in France
p. 228 (Penguin Edition)

Suicide is Painless

Is our intelligence service idiotic or not? The liberals have hated the intelligence service since the 1980s when Daniel Patrick Moynihan wanted to get rid of the CIA. The liberals next sought to make the CIA responsible for the September eleven attacks. The newest thing is that liberals are now claiming the "all of the intelligence experts say the war in Iraq is making us less safe." First of all, who are "all the intelligence experts"? Second, if they had no inklings about Al-Qaeda, why are they so smart now? Third, the only way to test this claim is to pull out of Iraq and then see what happens. Sorry Dems, nice try. Dick Durbin would be smart enough to see the outcome of that. Hmm. . . we leave the Middle East as a playground and training center for Al-Qaeda, and then we'll be safer in North America. Or. . . the Al-Qaeda people will see their jihad worked, that the infidel is powerless, and then take over everything south of Vienna. The world will surely see that Islam is blessed by God when they see the only superpower existing was rolled over with some car bombs. Yeah, the way to lasting peace is to stick our tails between our legs and run.

Force of Numbers

The will of the many, and their interest, must very often differ; and great will be the difference when they make an evil choice.
Edmund Burke
Reflections on the Revolution in France
p. 141 (Penguin Edition)

Opposition of Interests

They render deliberation a matter not of choice, but of necessity; they make all changes a subject of compromise, which naturally begets moderation; they produce temperments, preventing the sore evil of harsh, crude, unqualified reformations; and rendering all the headlong exertions of arbitrary power, in the few or in the many, for ever impracticable.
Edmund Burke

Maoist Baby Killer

If there is to be choice, there must be a party of choice. Without a pro-choice party, without a party built on the Planned Parenthood theory, and in the Liberal style it is impossible to lead the working class and the broad masses of the people in defeating conservatism and its running dogs.

Doesn't that sound just like Bela Pelosi and her half-rabid coterie of liberal extremists? Whose writing is this? Mao Tse-Tung said this, only he used communist terms instead of liberal-pro abortion ones. Oh, and why am I comparing communism to the "pro-choice" position? A high school classmate of mine went to Yale, and then came back to Illinois to start his political career. Mike Frerichs started his political life as a pro-life Democrat. Estase is glad to see pro-lifers of any stripe, but he was unclear why anyone who really found abortion repugnant would support a party so infected with baby killers. Estase was, sadly, right. For Chicago political cash, Mike Frerichs sold his soul, and declared himself pro-abortion. Mike, if you're reading this, I hope you can look yourself in the mirror and not recoil at the Judas you have become.

Chavez Aids Canada

Sources close to President Bush and Secretary of State Condeleeza Rice confirm that plans are underway for an invasion of Canada. White House and Pentagon sources have long believed that there is a "Beer Gap", and that premptive war is needed to assure Americans that there will be plenty of beer for the essential football tailgating planners have long expected. House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi says the Canadian Army will win the war, and asked "How much blood is a pint of beer worth." Congressman John Murtha says that our troops will not be able to survive the onslought of Canadian firepower, and that Canada will be another Vietnam. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez commented, " This is just the kind of thing we should expect from an alcoholic running-dog imperialist. We can see the same thing in the American invasion of Antartica last year."

Existential Threat

The cockroach leading Al-Qaeda in Iraq has stated that they mean to destroy America. Hear that, Michael Moron? They want to kick us out of the region. Hear that, Cos? These people want to destroy America. Bruce Ackerman, take notice. Mr. Ackerman doesn't think that Al-Qaeda is an "existential threat" to America. Al-Qaeda means us just as much harm as the Confederate army or Hitler did. What Al-Qaeda shares with Hitler (and, unfortunately, American liberals) is a desire that we awful Americans butt out of world events. The language of Al-Qaeda is almost the same as that from Nancy Lugosi and the other crackpots who have taken over their party. The Democrats of 2006 are shallow, and cannot be fairly compared with Franklin Roosevelt. Did FDR ever say that events abroad didn't affect us? Did 1941 Democrats say that we should let a rogue regime alone, no matter how they violate the rights of their own and other peoples'? Al Qaeda wants us to withdraw to our national borders, so that they may have free reign to invade "traditionally Muslim" countries like Austria and Spain. These people are fanatics, and if we don't stop them now, the time will come when we are alone in the world.

MSNBC FU

You know, someone with a name like Obermann ought to be careful about calling people Nazis.

Paradise Lost

I've always been able to understand why people romanticize certain eras. Racists romanticize antebellum Georgia. Nazis romanticize the Hitler era. Japanese people romanticize the American 1950s. Hippies idealize Woodstock. In each of these instances, there is a long for return to a era of Glory.
What I can't understand is a bumper sticker Estase saw last week. "I Miss Bill," speaking, of course of Bill Clinton. Did Clinton give us a healthy economy? No, despite what Dan Rather would tell you. Estase had a bachelor's degree, and the best job he could get in the Clinton years was as a janitor. Did Clinton protect us from crime? He would provide half the funding for communities to hire new police officers. That's like telling a poor man that if he wants a new car, you'll pick up the second half of the cost. Did he bring America together? One of the classic Clinton moves was when he blamed his political opponants for the Oklahoma City bombing in 1996. Talk about a cheap shot. Did he protect the nation from terrorism? Clinton's response to the bombing of the U.S.S. Cole was, well, nothing. When asked why the original Al Qaeda attack wasn't acted upon, Clinton's Secretary of State, Madeline Albright explained that they didn't get many calls on that. So Clinton ran his foreign policy by public opinion. Why did he bomb Serbia in 1998? There was a certain 19 year old, whose relationship with the President was just coming to light. It is apparent that after seven long years of indiscriminate killing, action was taken to cover up a sex scandal.
One looks at Clinton's record, and sees little to be missing. Are Democrats nostalgic for a president who failed to reduce spending, blamed political opponents for a psychotic bombing, ignored international terror, and sent American forces to war in Somalia and Serbia for ideas so nebulous as to make Iraq look well thought out.
What of this is to be commended? Do we want to go back to muddle headed foreign policy and Wag the Dog military excursions?
And, to be fair, Clinton isn't alone. Anyone who loves this creep as much as George H.W. Bush does must be very corrupt themselves. If there is no difference between Bush and Clinton, the rational thing to do is mistrust both of them. No more Clintons. No more Bushes.

Why Liberals Should Fear Illegals

The claim is often made that unless we're Indians, we have no right to ask that our immigration laws be enforced. Which is like saying that unless you've had food poisoning, you have no right to have your food cooked. Most of us did not have ancestors who could claim unlimited social benefits the minute they reached America. No nation can afford to confer unlimited social programs on anyone who wants them. It can't be done. The ultimate result of conferring social benefits on illegal immigrants is that no one will be able to receive such benefits. If liberals want people to have welfare and health care, they need to realize that unlimited immigration will mean that will never happen. Never.

Aborting Liberals

I was at the conservative site Townhall.com, and saw something there that reminded me that not all Republicans are conservative in any cultural sense. Someone had written a comment appended to a pro-life article excoriating pro-lifers on the basis that aborted children would have turned out to be liberal drains on society. This sort of crap makes me sick to my stomach. That may be anti-government, but it sure as hell isn't conservative. That's like saying that inner city violence is OK because the victims are poor, and probably vote Democratic. Would Edmund Burke have said that despotism and murder are acceptable, so long as its victims favor big government? I suspect that this kind of thinking is common among the people who consider themselves Libertarian. And this is why Libertarianism is basically the same as liberalism. Ugh.

Trouble Free Internationalism

Many in our current debate over Iraq seem to believe in trouble free internationalism. Our position in the world should guarantee us peace with no interruption. They forget that in order to have peace, we must work with other countries, which means occasionally working against violent countries. Take the Korean War, for example. In order to maintain the peace it was necessary to engage in three years of combat in cold weather, with heavy casualties and no end readily in sight. Men were dying, and it was over something that was an abstraction to Americans. South Korea was a place few Americans had visited, and no doubt many wondered why it mattered to defend it from communism. With the Korean war long finished, we can see that it wasn't just an abstraction. Millions of people who currently live under the tyranny of North Korea can attest to the evil and brutality of that regime. So fighting the war in Iraq isn't the black hole its detractors claim it to be. If we withdraw from Iraq, it will have very real consequences for the people of Iraq. And if the Islamic fundamentalists turn Iraq into their domain, it will have consequences for us too.

We Know, We Know

Today Estase was in a fast food place and saw a fat, mannish woman with hair shorter than his own. She wore a T-shirt which read "This is what a feminist looks like."

Non Mentis Compis

The world is gone crazy. Or at least the Bush Administration has. The proposal to allow a Chinese firm to operate a nuclear scanner for the U.S. in the Bahamas is the craziest thing I have ever heard of. Any company from Hong Kong is at least partially controlled by communist China, a brutal dictatorship. Any Chinese company should never be allowed anywhere near U.S. national security functions. Anyone who would trust our security to communist China isn't competant enough to handle his or her own finances. Absolutely crazy.

Jeane Kirkpatrick, Where Are You?

Now, with Jimmy Carter endorsing the U.A.E. ports deal, it is instructive to return to the
Commentary article of November 1979, "Dictatorships and Double Standards." In that excellent article, Jeane Kirkpatrick points out how the Carter Administration was instrumental in the rise of the radical Islamic state in Iran. So, we can trust the arabs just as much now as when Carter helped Ayatollah Khoumeni come to power. The article points out that we were, in those wonderful days, destabilizing friendly regimes and helping unfriendly regimes come to power. Incidentally, all America needs is a Democrat in the White House in 2008. Right.

Catholics Need Not Apply

In my previous blog, Political Rights Versus Choice, I tried to make the point that what the abortion enthusiasts do to the political voice of abortion opponents is very much like what the slavery supporters did to defend slavery. When Lincoln said that slavery opponents were going to make free men slaves, he was metaphorically correct. Indeed, there were several examples of this. Ezra Lovejoy had his anti-slavery paper's press dumped in the Mississippi twice. Charles Sumner was nearly beaten to death on the very floor of the Senate by a slavery supporter. And, as previously described, the House of Representatives had a gag rule directed towards avoiding debate on slavery. We see the conspiracy of similar forces in the defense of abortion. Pro life arguments are suppressed. The suspicion that one might not embrace the unlimited abortion license is very nearly enough to keep one out of federal judgeships. And the longer this debate goes on, more and more judges will be pro-abortion fanatics who won't respect the free speech rights of pro-lifers. See how the media treated Justice Alito?

Out of the Mainstream

Our good friend, Reverend Jesse Jackson, went to Cuba in 1984, where he said "Viva Che Guevara, Viva Fidel Castro." In his speech to the 1992 Democratic Convention, he said the Virgin Mary should have had an abortion. Now, in the track of such proud moments is Jesse's assertion (without proof) that President Bush is eavesdropping on his communications. Just how much of a crackpot can you be, and still be an influential Democrat?

Academic Hooker

A former professor of Sociology in Ellicot City, Maryland was arrested for prostitution. It's nice to see that sociologists can not only sell out to politics, but also sell out their bodies.

Political rights vs. Choice

It appears to me that certain activities's supporters are altogether willing to infringe on the rights of their opponents. The Alito defamation is a good example of what I mean. The Christian Congressman took the floor of the House amid boos and objections. The opposition called him a fanatic and said he was trying to force his religion on others. Any one who wanted to debate this right would be stopped by a coalition of those who supported it.
The Congressman tried to oppose the right, and claimed it was unconstitutional to suppress debate in this way. The opposition claimed their right was part of the Constitution.
This did actually happen. The date was May 26, 1836. The Congressman was John Quincy Adams. And the right was slavery.

Eighteenth Century Democrat Confronts Twenty-First Century Democrat

Eighteenth CenturyDemocrat (ECD)
Twenty- First Century Democrat (TCD)

TCD- We were fooled into war! We were told that this was all about democracy, when it's really all about the rich avoiding taxes!

ECD- Then it doesn't bother you that they haven't been trying British subjects in civilian couts, but instead in naval courts?

TCD- You're one of these goody-goodies who talks about "rights," aren't you? A court isn't that important. After all, one can lie to it easily.

ECD- Then you are a loyalist.

TCD- Patriot, loyalist, whatever. All that is just words. It's really all about power and sex. Especially sex!

ECD- You don't care about whether we win the Revolution?

TCD- If we're winning, I'll back it. But the idea that we're winning the Revolution is just plain wrong. So I'm against the war.

A Revolutionary Thought

"It was to become the password for a revolution. Liberty and property were synonymous. The great John Locke had said it a century before; now a new world must prove it. What a man owned was his, as his soul was his. No prince, no king, no parliament could take it from him without his consent."- Catherine Drinker Bowen's John Adams and the American Revolution

A Revolutionary Thought

"It was to become the password for a revolution. Liberty and property were synonymous. The great John Locke had said it a century before; now a new world must prove it. What a man owned was his, as his soul was his. No prince, no king, no parliament could take it away from him without his consent."-Catherine Drinker Bowen, in John Adams and the American Revolution

Impending Liberal Abuse

I hope the Conservative establishment is happy. Heaven forbid that someone who isn't day and night"political" be a Justice. The nominee that the Conservatives want will be villified and gored by the Liberals. Remember the way that Robert Bork was defamed and demonized by people who weren't worthy to hold his shoes. He was supposedly racist, unqualified (though he was a law Professor) and would in short be the end of civilization as we know it. Liberals are lying scum, and the media helps them mount attacks on candidates. This means that the truly conservative nominee must be impeccably authoritative or they will not make it through. This can be seen through Chief Justice Roberts, who was so academically invulnerable he was able to survive the gauntlet. It would have been funny, though, if Meirs made it through and then turned out to be ultra-conservative- - just as irony.

Egomaniacs Against Meirs

Why are so many Republicans against Harriet Meirs? "She's not qualified!" Ruth Bader Ginsburg said weeks ago that she would be willing to advise the President of which women were qualified to serve alongside her. (How modest of her!) Professional smart-ass Ann Coulter declared she was more qualified than Meirs. (Of course, she thinks she knows everything about everything.) Others declare her a crony. (see my blog entitled "Sherman Minton") None of these arguments hold water. I say that the main problem with the Supreme Court is a mind boggling egotism, where mere lawyers become gods who create law out of their prejudices and nothing more. Creating laws without details like democratic support has progressed so far that many Americans don't even realize when the Supreme Court has overstepped judicial review and entered the land of autocratic fiat. If someone really stupid was appointed to the Supreme Court, it might make people realize that these posers are only human beings, and don't deserve an unchecked power to describe as unconstitutional everything they don't like. A disaster for judicial activism would be a blessing for democracy.

Sherman Minton

Anyone remember Sherman Minton? He was a golf buddy of President Truman who was appointed Supreme Court justice. Did Sherman Minton destroy the judiciary? No. Did the works of Sherman Minton lead to legalized abortion? Ha- -it took geniuses like Bill Brennan and Harry Blackmun to do that. Harriet Meirs is the end of the world? Give me a break.

Cut the Crime Rate, Kill Yourself

When it serves the left, they freely admit that blacks are not often rich. Poor people are more likely to commit crimes, for the obvious reason that they cannot own the things they want through their legal income. So a recently published book recommended legal abortion for the reason that abortion killed many future criminals. Which is a lot like the environmental spoof bumper sticker, "Save the Planet, Kill yourself". When a caller to William Bennett's radio show mentioned the aborted criminal theory, Bennett rightly said that abortion for reducing the number of criminals was "morally reprehensible." He was rewarded for his pro-life defense of black children by a number of prominent Democrats crying "Racism!" Democrats have no honor when it comes to abortion, but it also recieved criticism from the president's lackey Scott McClellan as "not appropriate." This is another sign that Bush doesn't really care about abortion- - he just likes Catholic votes. This comes at the same time as Bush's Supreme Court appointee says he believes in "the right to privacy," which is the basis for Roe v. Wade. For Bush to condemn Bennett's anti-abortion remark indicates he has only a facile, superficial commitment to restricting the institution of legalized abortion.

She Should Be Grateful He Isn't Henry VIII!

When asked why she wants an annulment for her marriage to Kenny Chesney, Renee Zellweger said "I don't think his tractor's sexy."

When Did I Vote for This?

Since we are in the middle of confirming two justices to the U.S. Supreme Court, I felt I should talk about the scariest issue for our country. That is that of Justices Ginsburg and O' Connor using foreign laws to decide cases in this country. No, it isn't enough merely to make up American laws, but now we need to let legislatures in other countries vote on American laws. In an address to the American Society of International Law, Ginsburg said we, "should not. . .abandon the effort to learn what we can from the experience and good thinking foreign sources may convey." This isn't a philosophical debating society we're talking about. This is the law of the United States, and looking for clever sophisms to justify creating law is a threat to the very nature of what our republican democracy is. Are we going to import laws from Red China? Maybe women should live under Iranian law. This is insane! Why have a U.S. Congress if the Supreme Court is going to force us to live under other nations' laws? The main reason against this is the reason we fought England to form our country- -the founding fathers didn't want us to live under laws we had no voice in creating. So unless we get to vote for politicians in Sweden, Swedish laws should have no bearing on our laws.

Real Clear Obfuscation

I just read some really vile sarcasm from some inbred Protestant who apparently spends all his time "proving" my church is wrong, and that if you read enough of the Church Fathers (and really, who hasn't?) you'll find out that you're justified by faith alone. This Protestant derisively kept referring to my church as "the holy, apostolic, created by Christ," as though this title really belongs to whatever snake-charming assembly he belongs to. Here's a little hint to people who think like you: Get a grip, and start fighting the people in this country who want religion gone from American life. We really (false erudition and "real simple" theology aside) agree on most issues aside from the paltry, hair-splitting ones. Or would you be happier with a country of athiests, created by your petty combats?

The Check Isn't In the Mail

I will preface what I am about to write by saying that I thank God Almighty John Kerry is far away from the levers of power. I will also say that I absolutely support him on stem cell research. This being said, I would like to know what separates Judge John Roberts from a person John Kerry would have nominated for the Supreme Court. Today I smelled an Anthony Kennedy in the works. "Roberts says he believes in right to privacy," the Chicago Tribune said on the front page. Everyone over age 15 knows that in courtspeak, "right to privacy" means abortion, in all three trimesters, no limits. It isn't even a euphemism- - it's a synonym. All this doesn't square with the president's Christian image.

This month I recieved a piece of mail from the Republican National Commitee. "But Democrats in the U.S. Senate and House are already talking tough. Desperate for a partisan edge, they're vowing to torpedo the President's agenda with stonewalling and obstructionist tactics." Obstructing what- - a judicial nominee that thinks just like the Democrats? If Bush wants money to campaign for Roberts, he'll have to wait a long time.

A Religion Condemning Religion

It's always interesting to read the thoughts of liberal activists. When they pretend to speak as a religious group it's actually funny. So it goes with a group calling themselves the "National Council of Jewish Women." They oppose the nomination of Judge John Roberts for two supposed reasons. First, like any liberal advocacy group, they think abortion is great, and oppose any who don't believe in a "right to privacy." Second, they oppose Roberts for the "inclusion of religious activities and prayer in public schools. " So it's ok to do everything else in school (teach environmental propaganda, pick up free condoms, humiliate others in gym class), but students can't have religious after-school activities? Their docent, Carole Levine, goes on to say, "As Jews, we know what it means to have fundamental rights and freedoms stripped away." So the Holocaust happened because of "Meet You At the Flagpole" events? I'll just say that, as an Irishman, I know what it means to be unable to worship without systematic interference by the government. And it's a lot like what liberals do today.

Moronic Right Wing Smear Campaign

The flap over the comparison of Nazis with American troops at Guantanamo was described by the title of this blog.
Aside from the Nazi angle, real smear campaigns are based on lies. When Democrats said Robert Bork was going to bring back segregation, that was a smear campaign. When Democrats denied President Bush was in the Air National Guard, that was a smear campaign.
What Durbin said, Durbin believes. The Nazi comparison was implicitly made by Democrat Michael Moore when he said America "is known for bringing sadness and misery to places around the globe." Moore enunciated a theme going back as far as when Durbin's generation spat on veterans and called them baby killers.
Durbin's remark isn't really new. Democrats have felt this way for years.

Right for the Wrong Reason

This blogsite's good friend Richard "Maybe he has mad-cow disease?" Durbin has made many people, well, uh, upset over his comparison of American soldiers in Guantanamo to Nazis. I guess that when you hate the guy in the black Darth Vader helmet (for him, President Bush), that makes the soldiers in the piece souless white suited stormtroopers. It is often said that it is anti-semitic to compare the Shoah to abortion, but if anything about America seems like Nazi Germany, it sure as hell doesn't seem to be our troops at Guantanamo.

Thanks Jesse!

Today Michael Jackson avoided any legal responsibility for the ganamede- like behavior at his compound in California. In his cheering section was the Rev. Jesse Jackson. Why this concerned Jackson is anyone's guess. Maybe the Reverend thinks this behavior is a way of getting back at the race who screwed blacks. Or maybe we should have stopped looking for rational comments from the Reverend in 1992 when he said the Virgin Mary should have had an abortion. Anyway, thanks Jesse!

Cruelty to terrorists?

Recently, Amnesty International released a report calling the Guantanamo POW camp a "gulag." Real gulags were camps for Soviet citizens who violated section eight of the Soviet penal code. Section eight was applied to anyone suspected of opposing the Soviet state. Most gulag camps killed inmates through a combination of undernutrition and overwork.
This is not the case at Guantanamo. First, the prisoners aren't being killed. Second, the inmates were out of the protection of the Geneva Connvention because they wore no uniform in their combat against coalition and Iraqi forces. Even Northeast Regional Director of Amnesty International Josh Rubenstein called the gulag metaphor "overheated rhetoric."
This sort of report not only overstates the discomfort of the prisoners, it makes gulags seem less evil than they really were.

Why Durbin Is a Dick

Many good things come out of Illinois. Illinois produces grain, electronics, earth movers, and cars. We have, to our dishonor and shame, also produced Senator Richard Durbin. Durbin is a great defender of the little guy, unless that little guy is in the womb. This disregard for the sanctity of human life is made even worse by the fact that Senator Durbin purports to be a Catholic.
The support that Durbin offers the abortion "rights" lobby is unwavering, constant, and total. It means that he must stonewall the confirmation of any "extremist" judicial nominees. What makes a judicial nominee an extremist? Ironically, Catholicism seems to rate high on this ranking- - just look at the way he went after Miguel Estrada. Why, he might actually believe the religion he adheres to, unlike Senator Durbin.
Whether the Senate calls cloture or changes rules, or shuts down the government for a few days- - it indicates the importance of a fair judicial nomination process. Unless one of these people does something like advocating the end of search and seizure rules, or the abrogation of free speech, they deserve consideration. And Senator Durbin should be made Citizen Durbin in 2007.

Couldn't Say It Better Myself

This was a letter to the editor of the Peoria (IL) Journal Star by Norman Ashwood.

Please tell me again why Miguel Estrada was not qualified to be a federal judge. Was it his lack of education? His radical views? Or was it just because Democrats were afraid to have a conservative Hispanic succeed? None of these? Please tell me the answer.
It sure appears that Democrats don't like minorities that are Republicans. It's almost like they need to be made an example of. That way, we can keep them down on the plantation.
I would appreciate a response from Illinois Senator Dick Durbin as to why Miguel Estrada was not qualified. He really helped get this guy's scalp, and I think he should share his joy with all his constituents.

Law as an Excuse II

Here's another quote, this one being by a Dr. Freeman in the Fortnightly Review of September of 1871.

We have reached the state which our fathers called unlaw, not the state where law is silent, but the state when law is turned about and become its own opposite, the state when the institutions which were meant to declare right, and truth, and freedom, had been turned into engines of wrong, and falsehood,and bondage.

The Dream of Scipio

Cicero, in his De Res Publica, justifies the work of so many to create the Roman Empire through a story. The story is of how the General Scipio (I want to say Africanus) had a dream where he was above the world, and could hear the music of the planets and stars. He saw how, in the grand scheme of things, the Romans had achieved very little. All the same, he was aware that Rome, for all her children had sacrificed to build her, was dear to the gods.
So it is important to remember that even if we feel discouraged, we must continue to try to , as Aristotle urges, strain every nerve to live according to what's best in us.