The International Community Did Not Make Us

The right of the Iranian People to not be beaten or murdered does not come from "consensus" or "norms."

President Algernon SIdney

President Obama needs to stop using pedantic language about the Iranian tyrants violating "international norms," and instead admit that they

China Confidential: Abandoned by America, Iranians are Massacred

China Confidential: Abandoned by America, Iranians are Massacred

Forcing Morals Upon Others

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 oppostion 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.

The Strange Death of Humor

The disgusting sexual assault by Sasha Baron Cohen against Eminem at the MTV Movie Awards points out something about American comedy. It isn't funny. The trend started with degenerates like Lenny Bruce and George Carlin, neither of whom could say anything without filthy language and gross references to sex. Movies such as American Pie included jokes about sick things like the ingestion of semen. It has moved past comedy now- - when Rachel Maddow referred to the Tea Parties she referred to them with an oral sex reference. Is it possible for anyone to get a laugh with the kind of word play humor Groucho Marx specialized in? Does anyone wish to treat any subject with taste anymore?

Involuntary Association, Part Three

"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 a 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"

Making College Count, Part Two

"The whole trouble is that the American system from beginning to end is gauged to the run-of-mine American rather than to the picked American. The run-of-mine Frenchman does not get any nearer the University than the adjacent woodpile. He does not get into the equivalent of our undergraduate college. If he gets through the French equivalent of our secondary school, he does so by what our ancestors called the uncovenanted mercies of Providence, and every step of his progress is larded with bitter sweat. The chief reason why my Italian friend found no educated American under sixty years of age is that forty years ago the run-of-mine American did not, as a rule, get much nearer the founts of the higher learning than the run-of-mine Frenchman does to-day, and for the same reason- - he could not, speaking strictly, "make the grade." The newspapers some time ago quoted the president of Colombia as saying that durin the past half-century the changes in school and college instruction, as to both form and content, have been so complete that it is probably safe to say that to-day no student in Columbia College, and perhaps no professor on its faculty, could pass satisfactorily the examination-tests that were set for admission to Columbia College fifty years ago."
Albert J. Nock, 1937

Appeasement Does Not Work

The foreign policy of Oh Blah Blah seems to be based on the idea that if we can just give enough money and sympathy to our enemies, particularly those who attacked us in 2001, they will decide that we are nice people and stop killing Americans. This is the logic behind nonsense like using American money to rebuild what Israel destroyed in its war in Gaza.

Unfortunately, the Catholic Church in America seems to believe the same sort of thing. If the bishops can flatter secondary liberals by endorsing their socialist vision as a "consistant life ethic" or a "seamless garment", they will stop doing the things the Church disapproves of. The most recent example of this is Notre Dame honoring Hawaii Forty-Four despite the fact that he is not only pro-choice, but has also declared war on the Catholic hospital system. Obama and his allies will not reconsider their policies simply because America's premier Catholic university did something nice for him.

Lockean Liberalism vs. The Political Commercial Complex

As shown in the Declaration of Rights, the idea that we are the masters of our own fate led to the belief that citizens have the right to arms for the defense of their own lives. Not only do advocates of entangling politics and commerce not support the Second Amendment, they now apparently believe that patriotism means sacrificing not for Mother, Country, and God, but for Chrysler. Obama solomnly declares private businessmen should accept 39 cents on the dollar because "we all have to make sacrifices." Funny, I do not see the UAW making sacrifices- - they are making out like bandits. The Oh Blah Blah way is making everyone but his political supporters suffer.

Is it any wonder that our masters will not trust us with guns when they assume the private investor should suffer for the good of Chrysler and the UAW?

The Declaration of Rights, 1689

Whereas the late King James the Second, by the assistance of divers evil councillors, judges, and ministers employed by him, did endeavour to subvert and extirpate the Protestant religion and the laws and liberties of the kingdom.
1By assuming and exercising a power of dispensing with and suspending of laws, and the execution of laws, without the consent of parliament.
2By committing and prosecuting divers worthy prelates for humbly petitioning to be excused concurring to the said assumed power.
3By issuing and causing to be executed a commission under the Great Seal for erecting a court called the Court of Commissioners for Ecclesiastical Causes.
4By levying money for and to the use of the crown by pretence of prerogative, for other time and in other manner than the same was granted to parliament.
5BY RAISING AND KEEPING A STANDING ARMY WITHIN THIS KINGDOM IN TIME OF PEACE WITHOUT THE CONSENT OF PARLIAMENT AND QUARTERING SOLDIERS CONTRARY TO THE LAW.
6BY CAUSING SEVERAL GOOD SUBJECTS, BEING PROTESTANTS, TO BE DISARMED AT THE SAME TIME WHEN PAPISTS WERE BOTH ARMED AND EMPLOYED CONTRARY TO THE LAW.
7By violating the freedom of election by members to serve in parliament.
8By prosecutions in the Court of King's Bench for matters and causes cognizable only in parlia-ment ; and by divers other arbitrary and illegal courses.
9And whereas of late years, partial, corrupt, and unqualified persons have been returned and served on juries in trials, and particularly divers jurors in trials for high treason, which were not freeholders.
10Excessive bail hath been required of persons committed in criminal cases, to elude the benefit of laws made for the liberty of the subjects.
11And excessive fines have been imposed; and illegal and cruel punishments inflicted.
12And several grants and promises made of fines and forfeitures, before any conviction or judgment against the persons, upon whom the same were to be levied.

All which are utterly and directly contrary to the known laws and statutes and freedom of this realm. And whereas the said late King James the Second having abdicated the government, and the throne being thereby vacant, his Highness the Prince of Orange (whom it hath pleased Almighty God to make the glorious instrument of delivering this kingdom from popery and arbitrary power) did (by the advice of the lords spiritual and temporal, and divers principal persons of the Commons) cause letters to be written to the lords spiritual and temporal, being Protestants; and other letters to the several counties, cities, universities, boroughs, and Cinque Ports, for the choosing of such persons to represent them, as were of right to be sent to parliament, to meet and sit at Westminster upon January 22, 1689. . .

And thereupon the said lords spiritual and temporal and Commons. . . do in the first place (as their ancestors in like case have usually done) for the vindicating and asserting their ancient rights and liberties, declare: 1That the pretended power of suspending of laws, or the execution of laws, by regal authority, without consent of parliament, is illegal.
2That the pretended power of dispensing with laws, or the execution of laws, by regal authority, as it hath been assumed and exercised of late, is illegal.
3That the commission for erecting the late Courts os Commissioners for Ecclesiastical Causes and courts of the like nature are illegal and pernicious.
4That levying money for or to the use of the Crown, by pretence of prerogative, without grant of parliament, for longer time, or in other manner than the same is, or shall be granted, is illegal.
5THAT IT IS THE RIGHT OF THE SUBJECTS TO PETITION THE KING, AND ALL COMMITMENTS AND PROSECUTIONS FOR SUCH PETITIONING ARE ILLEGAL.
6That the raising or keeping a standing army within the kingdom in time of peace, unless it be with the consent of parliament, is against law.
7THAT THE SUBJECTS WHICH ARE PROTESTANTS MAY HAVE ARMS FOR THEIR DEFENCE SUITABLE TO THEIR CONDITIONS AND AS ALLOWED BY LAW.
8That election of members of parliament ought to be free.
9THAT THE FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND DEBATES OR PROCEEDINGS IN PARLIAMENT OUGHT NOT TO BE IMPEACHED OR QUESTIONED IN ANY COURT OR PLACE OUT OF PARLIAMENT.
10THAT EXCESSIVE BAIL OUGHT NOT TO BE REQUIRED, NOR EXCESSIVE FINES IMPOSED; NOR CRUEL AND UNUSUAL PUNISHMENTS INFLICTED.
11That jurors ought to be duly impanelled and returned, and jurors which pass upon men in trials for high treason ought to be freeholders.
12That all grants and promises of fines and forfeitures of particular persons before conviction are illegal and void.
13AND THAT FOR REDRESS OF GRIEVANCES, AND FOR THE AMENDING, STRENGTHENING AND PRESERVING OF THE LAWS, PARLIAMENTS OUGHT TO BE FREQUENTLY HELD.

And they do claim, demand, and insist upon all and singular the premisses, as their undoubted rights and liberties; and that no declaration, judgments, doings or proceedings, to the predjudice of the people in any of the said premises, ought in any wise to be drawn hereafter into consequence of example. To which demands of their rights they are particularly encouraged by the declaration of His Highness the Prince of Orange, as being the only means for obtaining a full redress and remedy therein. Having therefore an entire confidence that his said Highness the Prince of Orange will perfect the deliverance so far advanced by him, and will still preserve them from the violation of their rights, which they have here asserted, and from all other attempts upon their religion, rights, and liberties. The said Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, assembled at Westminster do resolve that William and Mary, Prince and Princess of Orange be, and be declared, King and Queen of England, France, and Ireland, and the dominions thereunto belonging, to hold the Crown and royal dignity of the said kingdoms and dominions to them the said Prince and Princess during their lives, and the life of the survivor of them; and that the sole and full exercise of regal power be only in, and executed by the said Prince of Orange, in the names of the said Prince and Princess, during their joint lives; and after their deceases, the said Crown and royal dignity of the said Kingdoms and dominions to be to the heirs of the body of the said Princess; and for default of such issue to the Princess Anne of Denmark and the heirs of her body; and for default of such issue to the heirs of the body of the said Prince of Orange. And the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and the commons do pray the said Prince and Princess to accept the same accordingly.

Kristol Clear

"The enemy of liberal capitalism today is not so much socialism as nihilism. Only liberal capitalism doesn't see nihilism as an enemy, but rather as just another splendid business opportunity."

"The New Left, though it echoes this proposition when it is convenient for its purposes, is actually dedicated to the counterbelief- - which is the preliberal proposition- - that to be good is to be free. In the war between these two heresies, the idea of a free society that is in some specific sense virtuous (the older bourgeois ideal) and the ideal of a good community that is in some specific sense free (the older "socialist" ideal as represented, say, by European social democracy) are both emasculated; and the very possibility of a society that can be simeotaneously virtuous and free, i.e. that organically weds order to liberty, becomes ever more remote."

"The danger is rather that the large corporation will be thoroughly integrated into the public sector, and lose its private character altogether. The transformation of American capitalism that this would represent - - a radical departure from the quasi-bourgeois "mixed economy"to a system that could be fairly described as kind of "state capitalism"- - does constitute a huge potential threat to the individual liberties Americans have traditionally enjoyed."

All of the above are from Irving Kristol, and all are prophetic of what Obama is doing to America.

Unlaw

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 where 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."

Three Political Experts

Sometimes a person's following has nothing to do with how much sense they make. Mao Zedong was not only a psychotically anti-American communist, his theory that the will to be wealthy and productive was all that China needed to be wealthy and productive lead to famine and decades of poverty. His thoughts would be of only historical interest if it weren't for the fact that many on the left still hold them. One wonders if Oh Blah Blah hasn't adopted these thoughts, since his Norman Vincent Peale economics seems to be that you can spend four trillion dollars and have economic growth by mouthing the words "fiscal responsibility."

Jesse Jackson said at the 1992 Democratic Convention that the Virgin Mary should have had an abortion. This would just be an odd religious belief if so many didn't see Jackson as a "black leader."

Ann Coulter confronts the insanity of Muslims claiming everyone should be Muslim by the insanity that everyone should be Christian. People still invite this Hillary Clinton fan to speak about what she thinks conservatism means.

The Confused and Scuffling Bustle of Local Agency

Barry Obama (aka Hawaii Forty-Four) holding a conference on fiscal responsibility is like Michael Phelps and A-Rod going on a high school speaking tour to keep people off drugs.

The trillion dollar "stimulus" plan is a bizarre economic expiriment that will either cause a recovery or massive inflation. It's kind of like the detonation of the first atom bomb at Alamagordo, New Mexico in 1944. Physicists weren't sure the bomb would not destroy the whole earth. Something would have to be pretty dire to justify this kind of gamble. Estase would like to know who will benefit from the high speed rail between LA and Vegas. Not all spending is investment.

"Sir, the very man, of all others, who has the deepest interest in a sound currency, and who suffers most by mischievous legislation in money matters, is the man who earns his daily bread by his daily toil." - Daniel Webster

Good Job, People

The first actions of Oh Blah Blah seem to be aimed at furthering the pro-abortion agenda by forcing pro-life people to pay for abortions overseas. What's more, Oh Blah Blah supports the atrocious Freedom of Choice Act, which would foist abortion on Americans on a whole new scale. Reports also say that Obama wishes to force all doctors to perform abortions.

This is a message to all you Catholics who supported this man. The change you voted for has come. It is a change from moderately pro-life laws to ones that threaten life from conception to some unknown point after birth. (See my previous blog "When Does Life Begin?".) Why didn't you find out about this man before you struck a blow against the right of doctors not to perform abortions? Why didn't you care that he had a 100% rating from NARAL? How will you feel when the Church is forced to leave the field of healthcare in the same way that conscience has forced it to leave the adoption field? I hope you are all happy, because I'm not.

Peace for Israel vs. Pieces of Israel

Isn't it amazing how people can apologize for Hamas rocket attacks, and turn around and accuse the recipients of these rockets of "terrorism" ? Also, note the Palestinian praise for the Nazi Holocaust. It will be interesting to see how pacifist Oh Blah Blah responds to this mess. Estase figures the foreign policy of Hawaii Forty-Four will be that of MoveOn.org: do nothing and whine if it turns out badly.

Flexibility in Government

"A state without the means of some change is without the means of its conservation."
Edmund Burke
Reflections on the Revolution in France
Penguin edition, p. 106

Battle Over Soul of the Republican Party

Why is it that no one was ridiculed more than Sarah Palin in this election? From the beginning she was treated with contempt by comedians for her looks, her G-rated vocabulary, and her social conservatism. Make no mistake about it- - a coalition of Democrats and secular Republicans have set out to make a laughing stock out of Palin. The reason is obvious. Palin represents the Religious Right, a group that Democrats and secular Republicans would like to shut out of American politics. Thus, lying about how stupid Palin is mirrors how stupid those on the Religious Right supposedly are. This was also what happened to Mike Huckabee. Pro-lifers are treated with a skepticism otherwise reserved for animal rights extremists like PETA. Palin is a threat to would-be 2012 nominees like Mitt Romney. Incidentally, has Mitt Romney decided whether he is pro-abortion or pro-life? Some Republicans would like to exchange conservatism for a doctrine of wild-west capitalism. These Republicans think they can win on taxation, but they're wrong: the only future for Republicans is for them to stand on the side of cultural conservatism. Abortion and gay marriage matter, and any Republican who doubts this does so at his own peril.

Shooting Yourself In the Foot

How can you even think about voting for Oh Blah Blah if you are Catholic? Please Catholics, go to Daily Kos and see what they have to say about your faith. These people regard your church as being something twisted and irrelevant. Oh Blah Blah is the best friend the abortionists have ever had. This man is more pro-abortion than Hillary Clinton. Wake up!

Modern Day Biddle

Back in the 1830's the government still hadn't gotten into the business of regulating the economy. One of the first attempts at this was the Bank of the United States, bane of the plutophobic Andrew Jackson. When Jackson denied the bank's utility, and took measures to kill it, the head of the bank, Nicolas Biddle, decided to prove the bank's importance by calling in loans to hurt the United States economy. Biddle started a panic, and, sure enough, Biddle hurt the economy. Historians have long judged Biddle to be something of a traitor, and Estase feels that history will take a similar view of Bela Pelosi. Pelosi flexed her political muscle by making a speech denouncing the rescue plan for the financial system. Just as with Biddle, it worked. Also like Biddle, Pelosi couldn't have cared less about the fact that the economy was going down the tubes Wednesday. She could have used her power to prevent the stock market hit that wiped out people's savings, but she decided to delay the rescue plan that was so important, and so urgently needed. Bela Pelosi acted like a spoiled brat, not a responsible statesman. If things get worse, Americans should know who to blame.

Does Life Begin at Birth?

The thing about Oh-Blah-Blah that scares me the most is his ambivalence about when human life begins. Estase believes that it starts at conception, but many abortion supporters consider birth as the start of a child's life. Oh-Blah-Blah claims ethicists (Peter Singer???) are undecided on when life begins. When is that point Barack? Is it two weeks after birth? Is it two months after birth? Is it when a child enters Kindergarten? This is really scary.

Merely Religious?

Recently seen on the back of a car- "I don't need to be threatened with Hell to be moral." Uh Huh. Another sign of someone claiming morality without explaining what they consider immoral is Plagiarist Joe Biden. The Plagiarist said that although he believes life begins at conception, he is unwilling to support this basic piece of human decency because he considers it a "religious" belief. Abortion is a basic question of right and wrong, and bringing basic morality into politics is fundamentally different than making Protestants eat fish on Friday. The Plagiarist is not providing anything more than window dressing for Oh Blah Blah, who shows signs of being the most rabidly pro-abortion presidential candidate of all time.

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?