Category: Do the Right Thing

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.

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.

(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.

Bait and switch at the vet. Asked in advance what all the charges would be for some procedures. Asked specifically about meds, any additional recommended vaccines, etc. Came time to pay out and it was about 12% more. . . for charges not previously specified and agreed to. Irritating, but not worth hassling about, I suppose. Not a pleased puppy, though. If it were a mechanic, I’d have tried to negotiate a bit and if that didn’t work, I’d probably have burned my bridges and let ’em know they’d lost my future business and that of anyone I could influence. For my Wonder Woman’s cat? *sigh* No. But I will be on the lookout to change vets.