"When misguided public opinion honors what is despicable and despises what is honorable, punishes virtue and rewards vice, encourages what is harmful and discourages what is useful, applauds falsehood and smothers truth under indifference or insult, a nation turns its back on progress and can be restored only by the terrible lessons of catastrophe." … Frederic Bastiat
Evil talks about tolerance only when it’s weak. When it gains the upper hand, its vanity always requires the destruction of the good and the innocent, because the example of good and innocent lives is an ongoing witness against it. So it always has been. So it always will be. And America has no special immunity to becoming an enemy of its own founding beliefs about human freedom, human dignity, the limited power of the state, and the sovereignty of God. – Archbishop Chaput
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A little Humor - from the Maxine Cartoons
Over five thousand years ago, Moses said to the children of Israel ,
"Pick up your shovels, mount your asses and camels, and I will lead
you to the Promised Land."
Nearly 75 years ago, (when Welfare was introduced) Roosevelt said,
"Lay down your shovels, sit on your asses, and light up a Camel, this
is the Promised Land."
Today, Congress has stolen your shovel, taxed your asses, raised the price of Camels and mortgaged the Promised Land!
I was so depressed last night thinking about Health Care Plans, the
economy, the wars, lost jobs, savings, Social Security, retirement
funds, etc .... I called a Suicide Hotline.
I had to press 1 for English.
I was connected to a call center in Pakistan . I told them I was suicidal.
They got excited and asked if I could drive a truck......
Folks, we're screwed!
Dan,
ReplyDeleteIf you put that joke together yourself, you are in the wrong business!
Cortopassi - it was from the Maxine Cartoons. I regularly get some of those showing up in my inbox and thought this one was a classic! I think I will put that up in the title so that folks know where I got it...
DeleteDan,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the laugh.
I sometime wonder if we should not vote for clowns instead of the joke(rs) we have at the White House...
Dan, whether or not you're religious, I highly recommend you read The Serenity Prayer:
ReplyDeleteGod grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.
It is not worth your while getting so worked up over something you cannot change. The majority of the people have spoken - you may not like what they chose but you've no choice but to live with it. Since you have no choice but to live with it, it would be better for both your sanity and personal health to accept it, albeit grudgingly, and move on with life. The four years will pass quickly, as do all four year periods.
I do agree with the Serenity Prayer (read by millions of people every day) but by keeping silent you are just saying to the abusers that they can continue and we have no say to whatever they decide. This is how and why the banksters continue to cheat and abuse the system and we are supposed to stay put and say Amen... while they use any means (including the medias) to keep us down.
DeleteIF more people decided to follow Dan, Jim Sinclair and others we could stop the madness leading us to the abyss. Just a big fan of Dan's opinion
Serenity prayer does not keep silent. It does say change what we can. If nothing else we do have a mandate to teach our children. They will have opportunity to do something. I think maybe Ron Paul may have prepared some people for the task. I dont know that he changed much but he has influanced many. ( he did many things and has been busy, just saying he did not turn the Federal government around )
DeleteUnknown - I understand the prayer and it is generally a good concept. The prayer however does not state - jsut accept things and grit your teeth and bear it. It says to also have the courage to change what you can.
DeleteI just happen to believe that we need wisdom to know what path those of us who still cherish liberty should take. Just sitting around doing nothing while the nation heads ever further down the path to decline is not an option for me because I have children. I want them to enjoy the same opportunities, freedom and the America that I have known and have grown up in. I do not want them to live in a European statist society where we have seen first hand how that ends up.
One could have made the same argument back during the original American revolution. It would go something like this: "Well, seeing that 1/3 of our fellow colonists are loyal to the Crown, and that another 1/3 are indifferent about the matter, why should we, a minority 1/3 who want a free nation of our own, even bother to make a difference. Let's just accept the fact and move on with our lives".
I submit that we are past that point Unknown. Did not the brief article on the nature of a nation's decline, with all the internal factions and interest groups not set off alarm bells for you? The long this nation trods down this path, the further it will decline and the real possibility that freedom will be lost.
Keep in mind that liberty is not some nebulous American birthright that is guaranteed for all our posterity regardless of events. No, liberty is only one generation away from being lost at any time. It has to be guarded or preserved because one it is forfeited, it becomes almost impossible to regain it short of violent revolution. That is why those who love it must work diligently to preserve it peacefully, while we can.
If that means we have to form some loose confederation of states who being to kick back against the ever intrusive federal government, then that is what we need to do. That means getting involved at your state and local levels and electing people who will defend your state's sovereignty before that too becomes just another idea that too has perished.
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." (Edmund Burke)
DeleteThanks for the humor Dan. In my own life I just have to laugh at the point I am at, when there is nothing left to do. And then at the end of the day, I can say I made it again. (inhale ...)
ReplyDeleteI really liked when you got connected to a call center in Pakistan, happens to me all the time!! LOL, thanks for the laugh.
"Did not the brief article on the nature of a nation's decline, with all the internal factions and interest groups not set off alarm bells for you?"
ReplyDeleteI do not share your fears, Dan. I've followed politics too long to be intimidated by anything. Every time someone wins an election, there is a faction on the losing side which fears everything is going to go to hell in a handbasket because their favored candidate lost and the Evil Opponent won. Of course, that hell in a handbasket never arrives, and life goes on. My younger self once thought such things, but in hindsight I now see how foolish I was.
What I find particularly humorous - and I know there are going to be a lot here who disagree with me vehemently - I do not even find Obama to be the raving radical that some are making him out to be. If you want to know the truth, to me he's just another republicrat (which, frankly, is fine with me, as my politics are very middle-of-the-road). As soon as he was elected in 2008, from experience I knew circumstances and reality would force him to moderate his views and actions, and his more liberal supporters would end up disappointed. Turns out I was right. Even his health care package is nearly identical to one republicans proposed in 1996.
Especially with republicans controlling the House, he's not going to accomplish anything particularly radical. If you pay attention, in four years you're going to be surprised how little has changed, either for good or for bad.
"Even his health care package is nearly identical to one republicans proposed in 1996."
DeleteI stand corrected, it was the Health Equity and Access Reform Today Act of 1993. Wrong year. Anyway here is how they compare:
Requires Individuals To Purchase Health Insurance:
"Obamacare" - YES
GOP 1993 - YES
Requires Employers To Offer Health Insurance To Employees:
"Obamacare" - YES
GOP 1993 - YES
Standard Benefits Package:
"Obamacare" - YES
GOP 1993 - YES
Bans Denying Medical Coverage For Pre-existing Conditions:
"Obamacare" - YES
GOP 1993 - YES
Establish State-based Exchanges/Purchasing Groups:
"Obamacare" - YES
GOP 1993 - YES
Offers Subsidies For Low-Income People To Buy Insurance:
"Obamacare" - YES
GOP 1993 - YES
Reduces Growth In Medicare Spending:
"Obamacare" - YES
GOP 1993 - YES
Controls High Cost Health Plans:
"Obamacare" - YES
GOP 1993 - YES
Prohibits Insurance Company From Cancelling Coverage:
"Obamacare" - YES
GOP 1993 - YES
... And so on, with still more similarities than listed above. There were some differences between the two on Medicaid, self-employed taxes, malpractice, dependent coverage, and insurance companies setting spending caps, but those were relatively minor. In the big picture the two plans were nearly identical.
Whether you like or dislike the two plans is besides the point. The point I'm trying to make is, Obama is hardly the wild-eyed socialist some are making him out to be. If his own health care plan ended up being nearly identical to one proposed by the republicans in 1993, it stretches the definition of "liberal" if you still consider him to be a liberal. He's just another republicrat, and his health care plan is proof of that. If you don't like republicrats, that's one thing, but you can't accuse him of being a liberal based on that health care plan, or you're also going to have to accuse the 1993 GOP of being a bunch of liberals as well.