The Iron is Hot. Will We Strike?

 

(Written May 24, 2013)

 

"I don’t know nuthin about nuthin, and I ain’t sayin nuthin to nobody.”  This sounds like it might be a line from a 1930s gangster movie.  But, for all practical purposes, albeit in different words, it is the line spoken repeatedly, in Congressional hearings, by supposed “public servants” who serve no one but themselves.

More than one pundit has recently noted that the problem with government scandal is not Obama.  It’s “the system.”  And while normally, we conservatives do not like using vague terms to describe a specific problem, in this case, the pundits have a point.

“The system” is not a vague mystery.  For, while there are certainly many good public servants, the system itself is a vast, labyrinthine tangle of entrenched bureaucrats who are rarely held accountable to the public they supposedly serve.  When asked about what they are doing, the only replies are of the category, “I don’t know nuthin about nuthin, and I ain’t sayin nuthin to nobody.”

For millions of law abiding, tax-paying Americans, it is inconceivable that the system could possibly work this way. 

Yes, we respect the Fifth Amendment, but that amendment was intended to prevent abuse by the government against citizens.  It is an amendment intended to shield the public from government abuse, not to shield the government from its criminal acts of abuse against the public.

IRS bureaucrats are unionized.  Union rules protect IRS bureaucrats from answering to us, their employers.  Who was it that signed our names to this outrageous agreement?  Yes, IRS workers should be protected, but we who pay their wages deserve equal protection from them, when they abuse us.  What kind of “system” permits this? 

Either we will change this system for the better, or else, it will eventually destroy us.  And it will not change unless you, the citizen, change it.

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They Were Led Like Sheep to the Slaughter

(Written August 11, 2012)
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From my earliest childhood, I was vaguely aware of the Holocaust, in which the Nazis murdered 6 million Jews.

But little did I know.

A recent TV documentary puts to rest all the claims that the Holocaust never happened, because the Nazis were compulsive record-keepers. Hundreds of thousands of documents exist in which horrific details of the slaughter were meticulously chronicled by the Nazi bureaucrats.

One of the most instructive type of documents are the letters sent to Jews, ordering them to show up at the railway station at a certain time and date for "deportation."

They did.

Yes, they went obediently to their deaths by the millions.

I had always assumed that the Jews were rounded up by SS and Gestapo troops, and dragged at gunpoint to the death camps.

But the documents reveal that that would not have been possible had the Jews resisted.

To be sure, the residents of Germany were accustomed to obeying all orders from government officials. And to be sure, many of them believed --- or wished to believe --- that they were merely being deported.

But even had this been the case, their docile surrender of their human rights is difficult to understand if you are an American who is well used to demanding accountability from officials.

It is in recognition of this docility that one of the mottos of the nation of Israel is, "Never again."

As Americans, we also must adopt this ethic. We must NEVER yield to tyranny. We must NEVER think that, well, it cannot happen here. And we must never delude ourselves into thinking that the Liberal Establishment would never sink that low.

They most assuredly will, and at the very first opportunity.

In the near future, expect a national or international crisis to occur, in which the US government declares martial law, and demands that all weapons be confiscated, and that all citizens submit themselves to being "relocated."

It is vital that as free citizens, we commit ourselves right now.

NEVER surrender your rights as a sovereign individual citizen.

If we do, it is our death.
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A Few Army Misfits

(Written January 11, 2013)

 

In August of 1968 I was drafted into the United States Army.

I completed basic training, and was sent for further training as a medic at Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio, Texas.  On the way, I was sent to a two week training course in leadership, which I duly completed, and was told that I would be a squad leader during my further training, leading a small group of regular trainees.

Since I was in no hurry to report to medic school, I waited until the last minute before signing in.  This turned out to be a big mistake – but not really.

The mistake was that I got last choice of the squad of trainees I was to lead.  There was only one squad left, and they were the guys that none of the other leaders wanted.

Out of the dozen guys I was nominally in charge of, nine were black, three were white.  All of them were discipline problems.  And most of them were ghetto residents who had been given a choice between the Army, and jail time, for various crimes.

When I first walked into the barracks, I was shown the row of bunks where “my guys” were.  The old-timer Army sergeant who took me to them, called them to attention, and they stood up from their bunks.  He very briefly introduced me to them.  He then gave me a list of tasks that I was to have them do, such as emptying the garbage.  Then he left.

“My guys” promptly resumed their previous postures on their bunks.

I said something on the order of, “We have to take out the trash.”  Nobody paid me any heed.

I then walked up to the nearest fellow, and began to say something like, “Let’s get a move on.”

But before I could really say anything, the young man had jumped up out of his bunk.  Towering over me with the stature of a football lineman, he began yelling at me about how I was not going to make him do anything, and if I didn’t like it, I could take the trash out myself.

I found that to be prudent advice, so I said, well okay then, and I turned, walked away, and grabbed the nearest trash can, which was full and heavy.  I heard another squad leader tell me, the sergeant told you to supervise, not to do the work yourself.

But I grabbed the can, and since we were on the second floor of the barracks, I began lugging it laboriously down the stairway, trying not to fall.  I was thinking to myself, this is going to be a very long tour of duty.

Suddenly, the can became instantly light as air.  I turned and looked behind me, and the football guy who had refused to take out the trash was now holding the can by the handle, and saying to me something like, “You okay man.  I’ll take it from here.”

A few days later, we were assembling outside a classroom to be marched inside.  I saw one of my fellow squad leaders arguing with one of my guys.  So I walked over and asked, what was the problem.

The leader looked at me and said, this guy says he refuses to go into the classroom.

I looked at the trainee and said, why are you refusing to go inside?

I just don’t want to, that’s why, and that’s all the reason I need.

So I told the other leader, well, if he refuses to go inside, then there’s nothing we can do to force him, so let’s just leave him here.

The other leader’s jaw dropped in horror, and he said something along the lines that he was going to report me.  Then he walked away.

I turned away also, heading for the classroom, when the trainee said, okay, I’ll go inside now.  And he did.

During the following few weeks, my guys kept me busy in the commander’s office, defending them against various accusers.  Most of the time, my guys were actually in the right.  Sometimes they were definitely in the wrong.  But I always managed somehow to persuade the commander to just let me take care of it.  Then the commander would threaten me with, well, you’d better, or I’ll hold you personally responsible.  But in my mind, I always figured well, in a few weeks I’ll be killed in combat anyway, so how much more trouble can I be in than that?

We had very little time for ourselves, and when we did, I quickly learned that there were “white” areas of the base, and black areas, and if you were white, you did not go into the black areas, and vice versa.  Race relations in the military, in those days, were not always smooth.

But since none of the white squad leaders in my unit liked me, then in our off time, I hung out with my guys.  And several times during our outings, my black squad members would step between me and some hostile black guy who didn’t like seeing a white face in “his” area.  And the black guy would just look with disbelief at all these black guys sticking up for this one white guy, but they would always back off.  But he’s whitey.  Oh yeah?  Well he’s OUR whitey, so lay off.

Every week in the training unit, squads would be awarded a prize of some kind for “best barracks,” best this or best that.  We never got one single best of anything.

But at the end of the training, we got awarded “best overall squad.”

The other squad leaders challenged that, since we had never once gotten best anything.

But the commander explained that each week, a score had been assigned, and the best score won the “best” award.  Even though we had never gotten best, we had always come in second place.  We were consistently in second place.  The other squads would occasionally get “best,” but then their score for the next couple of weeks would plummet.  In my opinion, this was because their squad leaders ran them into the ground seeking that prize for that one week, but then, they could not keep up the pace.  As a result, because we were slow but steady and reliable, we tallied the highest total score for the entire duration of training.  So we were the best squad.

After training, I was shocked when one of my guys told me that he had decided to break his agreement with the judge who had sent him to the army.  This would result in him going back to jail.

I asked, why would you do that?

His answer was, the army is harder than jail.  In jail, they don’t work you so hard, you have lots of free time, and the food is better.  Plus, most of the guards give you better respect than you get in the army.

I told him that maybe all that was true.  But I said to him, think ahead twenty years from now, when you will have had kids, and they will ask you what you did during the Viet Nam War.  What will you tell them?  Will you want them to be proud of you, or ashamed of you?

He thought it over, and then said, well, okay.  I’ll stay.

After we finished training, we all went our separate ways in the army, and I never saw them again.  I sometimes think about my guys, and wonder how their lives turned out.  Maybe some of them did wind up in jail.  Maybe some died in combat.  Heck, maybe some of them died in street fights in Detroit, for all I know.

But for the few weeks we spent together, we were the best trainee squad in the whole army.  That will stay with me forever.
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Income Inequality (Satire)

(Written Aug 30, 2014)

I filed a lawsuit today to remedy income inequality.

I told the judge that my neighbor has more money than I do, so I asked him for some of his, but he refused to give it to me.

He said that he worked hard for his money and saved it, whereas I am lazy and I squander every penny I get as soon as I get it.

He also said that he got himself educated and trained for employment, whereas I spend all my time on parties and complaining.

So what, I said to the judge.  None of that excuses the injustice of income inequality.  Why should I have less than he has?  I deserve more.

Besides, the things he said about me injured my self esteem.  I should get something for that, too.

But the judge ruled against me, and he had the audacity to say that if I wanted more money, I should earn it.

What was worse, my other neighbor sued me, because he has less than I have, and he wants some of mine.

Why should I give him anything?  What did he ever do for me?

I’m so angry about all this that I’m thinking of rioting and burning down my house.

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Ending Racism by Reforming Education

On March 25, 2015 I sent a letter to the editor of a news flyer produced by an advocacy group identified as African-American.  I never got a reply.  Here is an excerpt of what I sent.
= = = = =
If every poor child in America could have the quality education I had, matters would improve dramatically for those children.  Instead, half the teachers I meet seem to be incompetent or worse.  I have personally encountered science teachers who do not know the subject matter they teach.  History textbooks place more emphasis on Marilyn Monroe than on giving children an appreciation of the sacrifices made for them in generations past.  I could go on and on about this.

Nor would this [reform] require the ever increasing funding that unions and politicians demand.  We did not have desk-top computers when I was being educated.  We had books and blackboards.  Discipline was vital.  Many inner city classrooms are continually disrupted by unruly students, and many poor children are afraid to go to school for fear of violence.

If every parent could have control over their child’s education, if parents could fire incompetent teachers, and hire good ones, that alone would shake up the system to the benefit of all.

This can be done.  But it will not happen until millions of African-American parents realize that their children are being cheated out of a proper education.

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Attila the American

(Originally written September 7, 2012)

Many people have compared the US to the Roman Empire. Not all the comparisons are valid, but some are.

One of the factors cited by historians is the fact that Rome lost control of its borders. Over-taxing and over-spending were two other key factors leading to the final destruction. Social and political corruption played a very large role as well.

All of these are identifiable, destructive forces at work in America today.

In the modern era, the decay of an empire may be invisible for years, until finally a single event topples the entire structure. I liken it to a mighty tree in the forest, outwardly grand and majestic, seemingly invincible-- but if that mighty tree is eaten by rot from within, its appearance of strength is a deception. One day an unexpected breeze comes along and the mighty empire comes crashing down.

The collapse brings about massive suffering. Food supplies are suddenly cut off. Outbreaks of disease soon follow. The four horsemen of the apocalypse ride roughshod, and an empire comes to its sad and painful end.

We in America will have no excuse. We cannot claim to have been caught off guard, because the warnings of both scripture and history are loud and clear.

America is a treasure to the world. We have been a blessing to all nations, the best friend of our friends, the worst enemy of those who take up arms against us. Our ideals of freedom and human rights are a beacon to all people. Our faith in God shines a light to all kindreds and tongues.

The barbarians are no longer merely at the gate. They have entered the shining city.

A fierce battle is soon to come. Whether it be a battle of ideas, or whether it be a war of bullets, that conflict will soon decide the fate of future generations.

In World War 2, America suffered defeat after defeat in its first battles. Some foolishly predicted our demise. But Americans never doubted the eventual outcome --- victory and freedom.

We also should expect to lose some battles, but we will win the ultimate contest. Our role is to put on the full armor of God, to fight first with words, but also to stand ready for physical battle should it come to that.

Only God knows what will happen in the next few weeks and months. But with Him as our guide, we are assured of triumph.

Sarah Palin's prescription is reform, but not mere reform . . . . sudden and relentless reform, she calls it. Sudden in the short term, relentless in the long term.

I pray God that when the moment comes, I will be found worthy to be one among her footsoldiers.

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Obama's Samba Line Dance

One of Sarah Palin’s most memorable statements during her vice presidential campaign in 2008 was this:

"I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a community organizer, except that you have actual responsibilities."

While at the time her critics denounced that statement as unfair to community organizers, Palin was spot on correct.  Her point has been proved prescient.  Barack Obama is an abject incompetent at everything except speechifying and golf.  His ineptitude is nothing short of horrifying, considering the office he occupies (by which I do not mean that he runs it— he merely occupies it).

The man literally could not run a lemonade stand, much less a nation.  His attempts to outsource presidential decision making have produced a virtual samba line of buffoons who could not begin to control the agencies and projects to which they were appointed. 

Kathleen Sebelius led the samba line with failures so thorough and comprehensive that it became clear that she knew absolutely nothing about the healthcare website that she had many months to oversee, a website which not only collapsed the moment she pressed the “start” key, but continues to this day to have critical defects. 

Eric Shinseki was widely praised for his service as an army general, but from the moment he stepped into the office of Secretary of Veterans Affairs he was as out of his element as a brain surgeon assigned to build a space ship.  Veterans avoidably died as a result of Shinseki’s lack of curiosity about events in his department, and his response was that he felt really bad about that.  Oh yeah, he was angry, too.

“Former Secretary of Energy Steven Chu left under a cloud of controversy involving crony capitalists getting millions of dollars in green loans that produced nothing but failed companies,” according to Victor Davis Hanson at the San Jose Mercury News

http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_25815169/victor-davis-hanson-obamas-cabinet-is-incompetent

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton produced a litany of failures during her tenure, but one must grudgingly admit that she spent little time on the golf course (or whatever her pastime might happen to be), and is enough of a control freak that she would have scrutinized every element of Hillary Care, had she been president.  The finished product would have been disastrous to the nation, but an efficient disaster, which might actually be the worst kind.

Valerie Jarrett, not Obama, seems to be the actual brains (or lack thereof) behind the operation (or lack thereof).  Her qualifications for the job are purely ideological, explaining why no hint of the real world ever factors into presidential decrees.

The worst of Obama’s failures are yet to be exposed to the light of day.  His mismanagement of national security makes the Keystone Cops look like James Bond by comparison.

Let’s start with his own personal security, supposedly guaranteed by the Secret Service.  However competent and dedicated many of the agents are, they are clearly infiltrated with drunkards, whoremongers and bunglers.  This tragic and dangerous corruption has been going on for years, and nothing proactive was done to foresee and prevent future occurrences.  Forget locking the back door, the Secret Service could not even lock the front door of the White House as an intruder sprinted across the lawn and penetrated deep inside the building.  Yet another agency head has been forced to resign in disgrace in light of failures so astounding that no fiction writer would dare include such improbable idiocies in their novels.

Let’s continue with Obama’s military incompetence.  Here is a man who in a speech at the Army Academy at West Point mispronounced the word “corps” three times.  Many people would laugh this off as a mere gaffe, but it reflects an utter unfamiliarity with the most basic vocabulary of the military.  Worse, it shows that not one of the people closest to him caught the error before he made it, and no one was able to speak into his earphone (if he even had one) to correct this before he repeated it twice more.  Think of what the dismayed cadets were imagining, as they realized this community organizer was their commander.

One might laugh it off were not this gaffe magnified in his blunders that have squandered the gains of thousands of military men who lost their lives in battle to secure Iraq.

One might continue laughing if Obama had not claimed credit for ending the war, but now seeks to blame others when it turns out that ending the war really meant losing it.

The laughter dies down when the national security agencies have finally become fed up with this incompetent who continually blames them, not himself, for permitting an entire nation of terrorists to be formed under his nose, now threatening to infiltrate our cities with large numbers of fanatical, suicidal terrorists.  All this occurred while Obama refused to attend security briefings by those whom now he blames.

What will it take before those in positions of high power step out of the shadows and perform their actual duty of protecting the nation, protecting it from the onslaught of illegal immigrants, disease, and violence?  How can they protect the president when they refuse to protect the nation from the president himself?

Just how long can a samba line get before the laughter finally stops?