“The God who gave us life gave us liberty at the same time. The hand of force may destroy but cannot disjoin them.” ~ T. Jefferson
Ponder that while reading,
And in Other “News,” Water is Wet
Similarly to many “feddle gummint bureaucrappies,” the EPA wouldn’t recognize truth if The Truth Fairy bit it on its hinky “feddle gummint” a$$. It’s been wholly suborned b y Type II “bureaucraps.”
EPA Brags About Diesel Emissions Program Despite IG Findings
Brussels
Well, we certainly shouldn’t point our fingers at Islam, Religion of Peace™. Although one might blame The Butcher of Medina (Mohamed) and his faithful followers for hijacking Islam. Before him, it was perfectly peaceful. . . Muslims should gang up on the guy and drum him and his heretical teachings out of Islam.
Oh, wait. What’s that you say? Islam is those who faithfully follow the teachings of its founder, Mohamed, the Butcher of Medina? Oh, well, then ignore what I said earlier.
*sigh*
It seems that Euro-weenies may finally be tumbling to a fact that Charles Martel or Jan II Sobieski would have taught them, had they bothered to do their homework, learn the lessons of history, and stop listening to the “philosophy of consolation for western civilization as it commits suicide.”
Yeh, it’s war, and as long as the rest of the world blindly and foolishly heeds the lies about Islam’s peacefulness, Islam will continue its march through our societies virtually unopposed.
As Santayana’s Axiom states, “Those who do not know history’s mistakes are doomed to repeat them.”
It’s past time we begin to learn from the mistakes of history.
The Nut of an Exchange Between Two Rare Adults on FarceBook
Part of a FarceBook discussion of the phenomenon of His Ignoble Trumpery’s supporters viewing him as “anti-establishment” and Ted Cruz, whose entire public career has been in combat against “establishment” intrusions into Americans’ liberties is excerpted below:
JB: “These days, having once been inside a federal building for lunch makes one a career politician. Just like having once held an elective office of any kind makes one ‘Establishment.'”
JD: “But building casinos using tax breaks and eminent domain, while buying candidates left and right, does not. I think I’m beginning to get it.”
Yeh, apparently “owning” politicians (and openly BRAGGING about it!) and using one’s influence with “the establishment” to enrich oneself at the expense of others (via sweetheart “gummint takings” to benefit himself), and more, somehow just doesn’t penetrate the angry, tantrum-throwing toddlers’ pea-brains. Nope. His Ignoble Trumpery makes growling noises and barks really, really loudly, so he’s “ati-establishment” regardless the testimony of his actual history.
Meanwhile, Cruz, whose public career includes winning defenses of individual liberties and states rights before the SCOTUS and excoriation of “establishment” abuses on the floor of the senate, defense of our borders (even Jeff Sessions admits Cruz was integral to the defeat of Lil Marco and the Gang of Eight) and more is all just part of being an “establishment” politician.
Elite Group
Over the course of twelve years or so here at twc, I have “banned” (or blocked) a grand total of three people, each for being boring asshats (ordinary asshats I don’t mind, as long as they amuse me by giving me fun things to mock; boring asshats, OTOH. . . *heh*). Over the course of six years on FarceBook, I’ve–now–nlocked more. That’s especially interesting since I once had a very large amount of traffic @twc, and I have very few FarceBook friends (I have only accepted perhaps two “friend” requests per year, after the first year), by design.
Well, today someone earned a place on an extremely select list (fewer than the numbers of fingers on one hand): my FarceBook block list. How? A bitter, irrational lying screed proclaiming himself a “holocaust denier.” No, dialog with such persons is not a good use of my time, and even a quick skim of future post by them would be time poorly spent. I wish him the joy of his delusional, hateful life, such as it may be.
Marco Rubio Gives Me a Rash
I don’t trust Marco Rubio any farther than I can walk on water.
Rubio would make a decent vice president, with Cruz holding his leash and occasionally rubbing his nose in his messes, but his serial misrepresentations (OK, outright lies: saying one thing in English and another in Spanish, for example) of his own positions on alien invaders qualifies him only for a couple of terms being “paper trained,” IMO.
Like most proponents of amnesty for alien invaders (and despite his “nuanced” lies, that’s exactly what he holds for), he also sets straw men up as the only alternatives to his amnesty (no matter what he disingenuously calls it) proposals.
Moreover, He makes some good “Christ talk” from time to time, but his lies say his “Christianity” is suspect.
Do note: Rubio talks a good game on many policy issues, and even when making moral arguments, but his outright lies on the issue of alien invaders and amnesty call all his “good game talk” into question, for
He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. ~ Luke 16:10
Rubio has proven he cannot even be trusted to keep his lies straight, and that’s no little thing.
Responsible Marijuana Use
The responsible recreational smoker of marijuana will smoke with a plastic bag over his head and tied around his neck.
Thatisall.
(Pseuo) Legitimizing Slavery
Ted Cruz on Drafting Women Into the Military: “We Ain’t Doing It…”
A military draft is in the new again, with some proposing extending raft “eligibility” to women. While this might seem fair (sauce for the goose, as it were), I demur. A nation that cannot survive with a volunteer military does not deserve to exist.
The draft is government-sponsored slavery. A modern military cannot function properly when staffed with slaves, and a slave military has no place in our Republic. Attempts previous to the 20th Century were struck down on constitutional grounds. Of course, that didn’t stop Mr. Lincoln, any more than the Constitution stopped him from other violations of individual rights.
Things were different when Wilson was putting political opponents in jail, and military slavery was given a wink and a nod for WWI. . . WWII? I have known many men of my dad’s generation. None of them who served _admitted_ to having been drafted, and I knew more than a few of my dad’s friends whom I know volunteered along with him–his whole dance band, for example, enlisted in the Navy en bloc.
I repeat: A nation that cannot survive with a volunteer military does not server to exist. The draft is simply wrong in a democratic republic.
OTOH, those who are unwilling to volunteer in time of war probably shouldn’t be allowed to vote, either. JMO, of course.
Now Is the Time for All Good Men to Come to the Aid of Their Country
(And any doofus who objects to my use of the generic term, “men” to refer to “people” as “sexist” can eat my shorts.)
I’ve voted in every election I could get my hands on for the past 46 years, and even worked as a volunteer on a couple of campaigns when I was a young pup, full of piss and vinegar and hope and lofty ideals (though only for one Democrat who was a pretty good guy until he reached his level of greatest opportunity for the corruption of his expressed and demonstrated–to that point–ideals *sigh*). I’ve always tried to stay as plugged into local and state politics as possible, though not to the degree I will admit my Wonder Woman has (she once had a problem with an unresponsive state bureaucrap and lit a fire under the whole office with one speed dial call to our local state rep, a guy she’d done some committee work with. Problem solved by “remote control” in about an hour).
All that to say that I’ve had more than 50 years’ experience (you didn’t think I was twiddling my thumbs as a lad before I had my first chance to cast a ballot, did you? ;-)), trying to decipher politicians’ bullshit, buffoonery, balderdash, pontifications and outright lies. As a result, I’ve only cast two votes for candidates for office that, in hindsight, I truly regret. Oh, I have cast votes for snakes, crooks, dumbasses, inconsistent and self-contradictory weasels, and lesser sons of satan knowing full well what they were, but also knowing they were the lesser of evils on offer. *sigh* Not always, Deo gratis, but often enough to find discouragement with our political process a very nearly constant companion.
That’s pretty much how I view most of the candidates from the local level all the way to the national level, this year so far: snakes, crooks, dumbasses, inconsistent and self-contradictory weasels, and lesser sons of satan. Oh, there are some decent candidates, I’m sure, but do ANY of those “decent candidates” have the integrity and intestinal fortitude to remain decent once in office, or is their decency just a thin crop sown on shallow ground, unable to stand the temptations and pressures of power, however petty or great?
The duty of citizens is to gather all information possible about candidates, weigh concerns and then work for* and vote for the election of those they believe will do the best for the republic in whatever office the candidates of choice are running for.
*”work for” does not necessarily mean working directly for a candidate’s campaign. And, of course, one must balance time and resources and select a candidate (or candidates) one believes to be 1. running for an office that will impact the individual citizen’s priority concerns and 2. that the citizen voter feels he can make the biggest impact for with his time and effort.
Prisoner Exchange in the Future?
So, backtracking Sean Penn’s movements during his clandestine meeting with “El Chapo” Guzman, infamous Mexican “drug lord,” led Mexican authorities to finally REcapture Guzman. Again. Now, Mexican law enforcement is investigating/mulling over the criminality of Penn’s acts.
But wait! There’s more!
The U.S. has filed an extradition request with Mexico for Guzman to stand trial for crimes committed in the U.S. And Mexico has already said the request meets the requirements of the extradition treaty between the U.S. and Mexico. Oh, why not? Mexico can’t seem to keep Guzman in prison (he’s escaped, what, three times?). Maybe the U.S. can.
But wait! There’s more!
Remember? Mexico ? investigating Penn’s acts? Imagine a prisoner swap: Guzman for Penn. Mexico trades a murderous head of a drug cartel for Sean Penn (’nuff said). We win that exchange.
As even ESPN Podperson, Dan Szymborski, notes, “Only Sean Penn can interview a murdering drug kingpin and somehow come off looking like the douchebag of the piece.”