tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20372724.post6949335919151304240..comments2023-09-01T09:38:54.262-04:00Comments on Dumb Looks Still Free: Failing the benchmarks they set for themselvesA Jacksonianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07607888697879327120noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20372724.post-78322725670595349302007-07-16T13:38:00.000-04:002007-07-16T13:38:00.000-04:00Ikez - Thank you for reading and I am glad you enj...Ikez - Thank you for reading and I am glad you enjoy my blather!<BR/><BR/>I refuse to resort to hysteria, or to push the emotional buttons of others or to sweet talk them into giving up their own rights and responsibilities. I support my Nation and the concept of Free People addressing the issues before them in an open and honest manner so that the Nation may succeed.<BR/><BR/>And to hell with political correctness, political viewpoints and partisan ideology. To succeed as a Nation we must choose to be a Nation and uphold that we have responsibilities as individuals that cannot be lifted from us or replaced by government. Each time that is done it reduces rights, responsibilities and the direct accountability of the People over anything handed to government, be it healthcare or education or defending oneself and the States, severally.<BR/><BR/>The great burden of being Free and having Liberty to choose the best course rests with us, as individuals, not the government. That has costs to it, and we accept the responsibility when we fail as individuals. If the wealthy, like Mr. Soros and Mr. Gates feel they are not giving enough in taxes then they can, indeed, <B>give more to the treasury of their own free will</B>.<BR/><BR/>We are allowed to do that, as Citizens: pay beyond taxes if we feel the Government of the Union needs the funds. <BR/><BR/>It tells me much when the rich *ask* for taxes to be placed upon them by the government: they do not trust *anyone* to give that money freely and must extract it from the People. And it says much when those elected want to gain more power for themselves and find themselves unable to do even the basics so as to justify what little power they are given. I care not if you have an R or a D by your name... if you are Left or Right. By your inaction shall you be known.<BR/><BR/>I give what little I can in time, thought and energy to my Nation. It is sad to see that those that are, in theory, more capable, and *wanting* to do more do so much less and then invent excuses for their lacks. Doesn't matter your partisan affiliation if you can't just do the job you asked to do. That is failure of self and failure of yourself for the Nation.<BR/><BR/>The more I read and think on the Founders, from Federalist and anti-Federalist and the wide spectrum surrounding them, I now call it as I see it from their eyes and mine: rule by the few over the many to perpetuate the few. Their only saving grace is incompetence and incapacity to address the world beyond themselves. Makes for easy lambasting and egg throwing. The Dayglo colors help, too, no doubt. The Bozo nose is a big *plus*. And the size 150 red shoes to fit the egos involved.<BR/><BR/>In seriousness, it is time for the withdrawal of support petitions to circulate and recall the clowns. Put all the citizen's names in hats and pick at random... anything is better than this lot for a year and a half. Random citizens I can trust in being nuts in various ways. Very dependable.<BR/><BR/>These clowns? <BR/><BR/>They are going to get us killed.A Jacksonianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07607888697879327120noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20372724.post-47797986866199799232007-07-16T12:31:00.000-04:002007-07-16T12:31:00.000-04:00Excellent post AJ. Been reading for a while and y...Excellent post AJ. Been reading for a while and you are one of the more thoughtful posters on either side of the blogosphere for your use of reason and logical arguments instead of the hysteria and raw partisanship that dominates so many places.<BR/><BR/>I concur with the comments of the others.Coach Markhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12700125084775514984noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20372724.post-70200372539877334832007-07-15T19:58:00.000-04:002007-07-15T19:58:00.000-04:00Donald - Thank you!I am a bit vituperated out at t...Donald - Thank you!<BR/><BR/>I am a bit vituperated out at the moment... so thank you for reading and I am glad you enjoyed it.A Jacksonianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07607888697879327120noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20372724.post-60082833403504623302007-07-15T19:35:00.000-04:002007-07-15T19:35:00.000-04:00Wow! That's an awesome post. Required reading inde...Wow! That's an awesome post. Required reading indeed!<BR/><BR/>Have a great night!AmPowerBloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18236333181889271910noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20372724.post-26105674112761041732007-07-15T08:59:00.000-04:002007-07-15T08:59:00.000-04:00Ben - My thanks!I wish that those from Incumbistan...Ben - My thanks!<BR/><BR/>I wish that those from Incumbistan would make their inabilities less easy to discover... this is shooting fish in a barrel, sans water.<BR/><BR/>The States are in a bad way, and the Federal siphoning of funds and utilizing same to increase the dependence of the States on the Federal teat is of zero help, and actually retrogrades the US on this concept of divided government interbalancing between the People, the States and the Federal. A stronger Federal government is now weakening the Union, not strengthening it, and those elected to power will not hold to their promises or their Oaths of Offices to safeguard the Union.<BR/><BR/>Iraq, in all of this, is a side-show. It does need to get done to establish Liberty, Freedom and rule by consent of the governed, but that is Zero help if we lose all three at home due to the insane partisanship that has attacked the foundation and structure of the Union. Congress does not do its job, and that is measurable by seeing what they have, in actuality, DONE. Which is nothing. Zero is a measurement of achievement or lack of same... but digging to go *below* zero and harm the Nation for petty partisan bickering and 'gotcha' politics is suicidal for the Nation.<BR/><BR/>I use the exact, same argument as Hamilton and a number of the anti-Federalists to point at the abomination that has been created, not by wilfull intent but by wilfull stupidity. As has been quipped: 'There is a difference between ignorance and stupidity. The first is curable.'<BR/><BR/>Even worse are those trying to use the Franklin homily on security and liberty, and they forget that if you have NO security you have NO liberty nor safeguard for it. That is why we need security - to safeguard liberty and yet not encroach upon it. The Incumbistanians have so argued for abundant liberty that they have decided that security is unnecessary... might 'discriminate' or 'cost something'. Yes! To be secure one *must* discriminate against those wishing to do one harm, and the cost to ensure the regularity of the laws being upheld is an agreed-upon social cost to the Union.<BR/><BR/>As to being read by more folks: if any paper, magazine or website wants my material, it is here, free of charge, copy and paste and put A Jacksonian right there in the byline. I am allergic to marketing or even blowing my own horn, as those two have led to detestable ends in the Union. The need for the civil conversation amongst citizens as to the state and direction of the Union now supercedes everything else, in my opinion. We, as a People, have a lot of bad memes out there trying to homogenize or diminish the culture we hold in common and destroy it in that doing. Those supporting same get red in the face with their screaming: they no longer wish a civil discussion, but rule by their authority.<BR/><BR/>That is the enemy of liberty and freedom.<BR/><BR/>Civil, tempered, even discussion can and does allow for a far, far different sort of 'bite': and I put that forth. The handy cluebat where I ask: if you believe so much in liberty and freedom, how come you are unwilling to do ANYTHING to support it? Why destroy it through inaction? And the action called for is *not* manning the barricades, not a call to arms (unless we really get pushed that far), and the call to Revolution went out in 1776 and has NOT been recalled or ended.<BR/><BR/>The Revolution is not over.<BR/><BR/>And I do not want to see it return to the blood on the streets stage in my lifetime.<BR/><BR/>As my Uncle said when talking about the problems of the day, he would look out the window and say: 'Still no unburied dead laying in the streets, so it can't be that bad.'<BR/><BR/>I would love to keep it that way so that the discussion to have a Nation does not need to go back there, again, and re-start the Revolution in that blood-drenched phase. I wish more of my fellow citizens would see that this is the end of our current road if we continue on it. We are a great people if we dare to be... to say 'screw the critics' and laugh at the odds and merrily wage the wages of liberty and freedom and damn the cost. For the loss of liberty and freedom is poverty of the soul and the spirit for ourselves and our children. And, most likely, our lives as well.<BR/><BR/>The storm winds howl, the whitecaps are whipped upon the waves, the ice forms on the rails and deck... visibility decreases... the iceberg looms... steer to avoid, with this cumbersome ship of state, or into it? The Titanic chose to avoid and lost everything. Can we do better and accept our fates and take our costs to be that beacon of liberty, and plough into our future and accept the costs to be free?<BR/><BR/>That is our decision, those of us who lived to see the end of the Cold War and now see the vile future offered by those trying to bring down liberty and freedom via various means. Do we dare name our enemies? Or do we accept that liberty and freedom shall die by our inaction? The time for that choice is drawing nearer, the future more dark, and iceberg looming in the unseen night. Can we choose the path of supporting liberty and freedom... or try to save the paintjob and lose the bottom of the hull, torn asunder by those seeking to destroy this hope of mankind?<BR/><BR/>The choice is ours... and I don't like the path of those in Incumbistan or their supporters. They are asking for Revolution.<BR/><BR/>They forget that 1776 is not over... and they will *get* what they wish for on this path, but not the revolution they expected. The American Revolution facing the same lump that is unwilling to move *now* as it was in 1776. I do not like that cost, but it is the coin of the realm of liberty and I am more than willing to pay it. Because the blade of the butcher of freedom is far, far costlier. The path to victory is liberty and freedom, not dissolution and fear. Trust in 1776 and be fearless and accept that cost... or cry 'defeat' and learn the cost of the butcher come calling again and again.A Jacksonianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07607888697879327120noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20372724.post-4208247751142254262007-07-15T02:17:00.000-04:002007-07-15T02:17:00.000-04:00Outstanding post, A. Jacksonian!That's the good th...Outstanding post, A. Jacksonian!<BR/><BR/>That's the good thing about promises the politicans make.<BR/>They are measurable.<BR/><BR/>With this Congress, we don't even have to measure, since they have done exactly zilch, other than to make things worse.<BR/><BR/>Worse. Than. Zilch.<BR/><BR/>You have done a fantastic job providing real solutions, after a great job pointing out the promises they made, and why the few plans they do have (but haven't enacted) would fail, as history teaches us. <BR/><BR/>They are indeed throwing chum in the water, and the sharks smell it.<BR/><BR/>I haven't much to add, other than: most states are in even worse shape. Especially if they have a left-leaning Governor, Congress and Court.<BR/><BR/>It's pretty bad when the best we seem to be able to hope for is that nothing get's "fixed." <BR/>Particularly with the current crop of scoundrels. <BR/><BR/>But that's just treading water at best, and sooner or later, we'll lose the strength to do that, and when that happens...<BR/><BR/>AJ, I concur with BZ, you should be required reading for millions!USS Ben USN (Ret)https://www.blogger.com/profile/07492369604790651538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20372724.post-32407764521496070132007-07-14T06:00:00.000-04:002007-07-14T06:00:00.000-04:00Mr. Z - Consider it to be an ignored 'trendsetter'...Mr. Z - Consider it to be an ignored 'trendsetter' blog!<BR/><BR/>Tomorrows complaints TODAY with their REMEDY already given.<BR/><BR/>It is a tough job to not be a 'knee jerk' reactionist of the Left or Right, but someone has to do it. Because that is what we agreed to under the Constitution as Citizens to be part of We the People.<BR/><BR/>Would that others actually took that responsibility seriously: that would lessen the load and distribute it *away* from 'think tanks' and political action committees. That would actually make things *easier* and make individual less dependent upon the parties, think tanks, reactionary groups of the Left and Right, and, that poorest of all groups to design good things to do, government.<BR/><BR/>You know, be an American, suck it up and think for yourself.<BR/><BR/>I criticize *anyone* that can't do that and only parrots 'talking points'. Right, Left, libertarian, whatever... read off of a talking points sheet and refuse to think for yourself and expect the simplistic ideas to be spanked on the fanny. Because they *deserve* to be spanked on the fanny as they are fit for petulant 5-year olds, not adults. I really do have some problems with my fellow Citizens, and I am a nice, sweet, kind, gentle individual who really does wonder why we are heading straight into the teeth of the warnings of the Founding Generation.<BR/><BR/>We are about to get bit.<BR/><BR/>It is not a mosquito, but a great white shark that we are going to get the chomping from. We deserve it. I just point out the asinine things that are put forward that are throwing out the chum in the water as we go swimming. We could at least stop doing that... but that is far too simple...A Jacksonianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07607888697879327120noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20372724.post-59905404148762765382007-07-13T20:28:00.000-04:002007-07-13T20:28:00.000-04:00It would seem to me, AJ, that every Demo talking p...It would seem to me, AJ, that every Demo talking point is PRECISELY what they CANNOT achieve due to their core beliefs.<BR/><BR/>I tell you, sir, I wish your blog was a major, MAJOR blog read by thousands and thousands of people.<BR/><BR/>People need to do so.<BR/><BR/>BZBloviating Zeppelinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01359816456769157176noreply@blogger.com