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