Guard Dog
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Posts posted by Guard Dog
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Pat Buchanan went a little nuts for a few years back in the 90's. He seems to have calmed down of late and his columns have been pretty good. Like this one that seems to repeat a lot of what I've been saying here lately. I think the US as a political institution is entering it's last phase of life. I believe a breakup is inevitable because no matter what the divisive issue is, the root of it is what power the federal government should or should not have. One side wants the see the Federalist system eliminated and for the national government to assume control of everything (note: this is not necessarily socialism or totalitarianism, but it could be), the other side wants to reign Uncle Sam back to his constitutionally defined role. The two viewpoints are fundamentally incompatible with each other. At some point one of the two sides must capitulate or they shake hands and go their separate ways, each taking half of the country with them. Lets hope it's one of those two, the third possibility is that one side seizes power and tries to exterminate the other. I sincerely hope that never comes to pass.
Flying home from London, where the subject of formal debate on the 70th anniversary of World War II had been whether Winston Churchill was a liability or asset to the Free World, one arrives in the middle of a far more acrimonious national debate right here in the United States.At issue: Should Barack Obama be allowed to address tens of millions of American children, inside their classrooms, during school hours?
Conservative talk-show hosts saw a White House scheme to turn public schools into indoctrination centers where the socialist ideology of Obama would be spoon-fed to captive audiences of children forced to listen to Big Brother -- and then do assignments on his sermon.
The liberal commentariat raged about right-wing paranoia.
Yet Byron York of the Washington Examiner dug back to 1991 to discover that, when George H.W. Bush went to Alice Deal Junior High to speak to America's school kids, the left lost it.
"The White House turned a Northwest Washington junior high classroom into a television studio and its students into props," railed the Washington Post. Education Secretary Lamar Alexander was called before a House committee. The National Education Association denounced Bush. And Congress ordered the General Accounting Office to investigate.
Obama's actual speech proved about as controversial as a Nancy Reagan appeal to eighth-graders to "Just say no!" to drugs.
Yet, the episode reveals the poisoned character of our politics.
We saw it earlier on display in August, when the crowds that came out for town hall meetings to oppose Obama's health-care plans were called "thugs," "fascists," "racists" and "evil-mongers" by national Democrats.
We see it as Rep. Joe Wilson shouts, "You lie!" at the president during his address to a joint session of Congress.
We seem not only to disagree with each other more than ever, but to have come almost to detest one another. Politically, culturally, racially, we seem ever ready to go for each others' throats.
One half of America sees abortion as the annual slaughter of a million unborn. The other half regards the right-to-life movement as tyrannical and sexist.
Proponents of gay marriage see its adversaries as homophobic bigots. Opponents see its champions as seeking to elevate unnatural and immoral relationships to the sacred state of traditional marriage.
The question invites itself. In what sense are we one nation and one people anymore? For what is a nation if not a people of a common ancestry, faith, culture and language, who worship the same God, revere the same heroes, cherish the same history, celebrate the same holidays and share the same music, poetry, art and literature?
Yet, today, Mexican-Americans celebrate Cinco de Mayo, a skirmish in a French-Mexican war about which most Americans know nothing, which took place the same year as two of the bloodiest battles of our own Civil War: Antietam and Fredericksburg.
Christmas and Easter, the great holidays of Christendom, once united Americans in joy. Now we fight over whether they should even be mentioned, let alone celebrated, in our public schools.
Where we used to have classical, pop, country & Western and jazz music, now we have varieties tailored to specific generations, races and ethnic groups. Even our music seems designed to subdivide us.
One part of America loves her history, another reviles it as racist, imperialist and genocidal. Old heroes like Columbus, Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee are replaced by Dr. King and Cesar Chavez.
But the old holidays, heroes and icons endure, as the new have yet to put down roots in a recalcitrant Middle America.
We are not only more divided than ever on politics, faith and morality, but along the lines of class and ethnicity. Those who opposed Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court and stood by Sgt. Crowley in the face-off with Harvard's Henry Louis Gates were called racists. But this time they did not back down. They threw the same vile word right back in the face of their accusers, and Barack Obama.
Consider but a few issues on which Americans have lately been bitterly divided: school prayer, the Ten Commandments, evolution, the death penalty, abortion, homosexuality, assisted suicide, affirmative action, busing, the Confederate battle flag, the Duke rape case, Terri Schiavo, Iraq, amnesty, torture.
Now it is death panels, global warming, "birthers" and socialism. If a married couple disagreed as broadly and deeply as Americans do on such basic issues, they would have divorced and gone their separate ways long ago. What is it that still holds us together?
The European-Christian core of the country that once defined us is shrinking, as Christianity fades, the birth rate falls and Third World immigration surges. Globalism dissolves the economic bonds, while the cacophony of multiculturalism displaces the old American culture.
"E pluribus unum"
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I haven't read through all of this, but I'm not necessarily opposed to UHC, but for the Europeans, ask yourself if you would want a single UHC program that covered all the countries in Europe. The US just has a huge population, and many people see a Universal Health Care system as a total nightmare that will be terribly mismanaged.
So would an individual state government, if it wished to, be able to organise universal health care for its own citizens? Have any done so? Would this be more acceptable to the public?
I would definately support that, since it would leave accountability to a closer and to a lower level, making it more easy for the taxpayers to verify any fraud or mismanagement. The federal government would simply have legislate the mandate "universal healthcare guaranteed to its citizens" to every state would be enough. Whether if they would adpot the swiss model or the british one would be up to them as long as it was universal.
@Steve: Oregon and Wisconson are working on this very thing right now. I believe it's on hold waiting to see what Obama and Congress are going to do. But their proposals are more manageable, far less onerouss and most importantly are constitutional.
@Meshugger: The Constitution does not permit the Federal government to tell the states "Thous Shalt or Shalt Not Do This" about much of anything unless a program is either 1) Paid for by Federal money, this would not be, or 2) Pertains to inter-state commerce or dealing with a foeriegn power. This would not. If an individual state wished to privide UHC for it's citizens I am all for it.
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I'm curious. What does everytone think of interleague play? On the MLB channel on XM this morning they were tlaking about the unbalancing effect it had on the playoff races. For example, The Rockies playes a weak interleague schedule compared to the Cubs and that accounted for 10 Rocks wins over weaker teams where the Cubs had to play in NY and Boston and lost 5 of 6. Remove the interleague games and the NL wild card race is a lot tighter. If I were in charge I think I'd limit the Interleague play to one home and one away series against a cross league "rival" (Cubs vs White Sox for example) and do away with the rest. Ideally I think we should expand the AL by two teams, eliminate interleague play and go back to a balanced schedule, but that will never happen. What are everyones thoughts on Interleague?
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My point was mainly that for comparable money he'd get something probably in the same ballpark in terms of workability, but he probably couldn't rebuild his car because of all the tech that's in there now a days.
Good point. He probably could not. The days of shade tree mechanics are long gone. Heck I don't even do my own oil changes anyome. It costs more to buy the filter and oil and pay the disposal fee for the old oil than it does to take it in to a shop.
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Titans @ Steelers Steelers repeat begins tonight
Dolphins @ Falcons Atlanta in a close one
Chiefs @ Ravens No QB no win for KC. Ravens win big
Eagles @ Panthers Carolinas defense is good, Phillys offense is better. Eagles win
Broncos @ Bengals No real opinion on this one. Bengals
Vikings @ Browns Browns are in disarray, Vikes win
Jets @ Texans Prediction, Jets will be elimated from contention by week 9. Texans win
Jags @ Colts Gut tells me the revamped Jags running game overpowers small Indy defense. Jags win
Lions @ Saints Bad team + rookie QB on the road = Saints win
Cowboys @ Bucs Let the futility begin. Cowboys
49ers @ Cardinals I doubt they go all the way again but the Cards are way better than SF. Cards win
Redskins @ Giants This will be a great game. Giants win close
Rams @ Seahawks I wonder if anyone will watch this game? Seahawks
Bears @ Packers Bears
Bills @ Patriots This one will be ugly for Buffalo, Pats win
Chargers @ Raiders Prediction: Chargers will get more sacks than the Raiders get touchdowns. Chargers win.
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Week one is upon us, time for the picks! You can cut and paste this one:
Titans @ Steelers
Dolphins @ Falcons
Chiefs @ Ravens
Eagles @ Panthers
Broncoes @ Bengals
Vikings @ Browns
Jets @ Texans
Jags @ Colts
Lions @ Saints
Cowboys @ Bucs
49ers @ Cardinals
Redskins @ Giants
Rams @ Seahawks
Bears @ Packers
Bills @ Patriots
Chargers @ Raiders
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I got my driver's license today!
Good deal. Now you need a car, got one in mind?
Bad choice letting your kid pick his/her first vehicle imo. Then they get the idea in their head that they can have anything they want but that's wrong and they need to be hit in the face. You get what you can take which is why I haven't killed myself for the two horrible jalopies that were handed down to me over the years. I do however get to pick my next vehicle and I'm basically just biding my time until something worthwhile comes along or the piece that I'm driving now falls apart and I'm forced to get a new vehicle.
regardless, grats awsomness. Welcome to complete and utter slavery to your vehicle and of course the overly frightening experience of "blank driving" where your brain turns off and 15 minutes later you arrive at your destination with little or no recollection of the time spent operating your vehicle and the countless lives that you've likely endangered. Great times.
If he gets a job and buys it himself he can pick whatever he wants. I bought my first cat at 17. It was 1978 Camaro, I earned the money cutting grass at a horse farm.
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A part of me wishes for the current administration to simply put public single-payer as the only option, and passing a law that would outlaw the entire healthcare insurance industry as whole. Then, the history books will tell that this was the start of the Second American Civil War, the only war ever in history that was fought over a healthcare insurance policy.
The war was won by "The People's Liberation Army for Freedom" against the "National American Front for Justice and Prosperity".
I think thar i need to play Civ4 or something similar for a while.
It would never pass. Simply put we (the majority of Americans) just don't want it. I know it's used in many other places and it works fine. We just don't want it here. It really is that simple. Heck I keep reminding everyone, the US in not Europe. It's not Austrialia. We may have far more in common than not but we have fundamentally different attitudes about what the role of government should be. Most of us do at least. That is not to impugn the viture of state run healthcare as it is practiced elsewhere. I know Krezack in particular is guilty of this but many non US posters here look at the US and wonder "why aren't they more like us?" We are the product of our history. If you really want to understand why the US is how it is I highly reccomend this book: http://www.amazon.com/5000-Year-Leap-Mirac...0994&sr=8-1
I know you were joking about the civil war part and while I do believe a break up of the US is certainly probable at some future point, I very seriously doubt there will ever be another civil war.
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Just one more thought on this and I'll let it go. The Democrats have a super-majority in congress. They own it. The Republicans are absolutely irrelevant. They cannot filibuster or outright defeat anything. They could no more stop the Dems from passing this than they can stop the sun from rising tomorrow. There are three bills in the House and one in the Senate that do everything Obama wants including a government run public option. If this was such a god damned good thing then why have they not passed one yet? Heck they will not even allow a vote on it yet. Why? Becase they cannot even get all of the Democrats to go along with it. You don't need a singe Repub vote but when 1/3 of your own god damned party knows it stinks maybe you need to take another look at it before ramming it down everyones throats.
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@GD:
Just because Obama wants something to be more extreme than you do doesn't mean you have to go that far. Take the system as far as you want and then exert the checks and balances. You're setting up your own straw man*!
Not only does he want it he outlined exactly how to get it and is following his plan to the letter. For this example only, suppose he gets what he wants, a public plan to "compete" with private companies. This public plan is ostensibly not-for-profit and has no fiduciary responsibilities since if it runs short on cash the government simply gives it an infusion of cash by raising taxes, or worse simply printing the money as Obama has been wont to do this past year. Private companies cannot simply invent funds so they are already operating against an unfair advantage. Included in his plan is a law FORCING everyone to have insurance. There are a myriad of federal laws regulating insurance companies and what they can sell to whom and where. For example, if I wanted to buy my own plan there are over 1600 individual plans out there, I am only allowed to by 2-3 of them. So if the ones available are cost prohibitive I am forced onto the "public" plan. And you had better believe the big government hacks are savvy enough to ensure most people will be forced into that option by all means fair or foul. So once again, anyone can be placed on the public plan but the government who owns the public plan gets final say who the insurance companies can and cannot sell to. Once again, a very unfair advantage. Finally, because it has no fiduciary responsibility the public plan can undercut the private companies which will entice employers to drop private coverage and the coup is complete. Private companies go under, the government takes over and now by God they own you. Health care is the ultimate back stage pass into everyones lives. Want to outlaw smoking, drinking, scuba diving? They now have "vested financial interest" in your health and they will extrapolate that into the power to dictate how you live your life. I am not saying Obama wants to or will do all of these things but somewhere down the road someone will and all the groundwork needed will have been laid. No thank you. Not in my country.
A very wise man once told me that the most intelligent way to look at government is to examine all of the factions and imagine what would happen if each of them got everything they wanted. Once you've done that you support the one that scares you the least. Obama and his ilk scare the hell out of me.
Big Daddy Don Garlits told me that when I worked for him on his 1994 congressional campaign.
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You might never sleep again.
clearly something ole taks ain't gonna try. i already don't sleep... something like this would be negative sleep.
taks
Well, at our age that drink might cause heart failure. Either way the claim holds true. Once you pass 40 who has time to waste sleeping. I'll sleep when I'm dead. Just ask the local coyotes.
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The "slippery slope" idea is not stupid but I honestly can't see America sitting there and accepting a completely socialist government. If anything too extreme happened most people would be up in arms (although many already are). I just think that giving it a chance before screaming "He's turning us into Socialists!" is a good idea.
Awsomeness, please do me a favor and watch this video with an open mind. Remember, a law that seems innocouos or even benevolent today can be used to strangle you somewhere down the road.
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afternoon/evening picnics are win
in fact i never actually made it home - did an all nighter and came straight to work
dosing myself up on caffeine, so hopefully wont crash part way through the day
There is dirnk called a Truckers ****tail you can try. Take a large cup (as big as you can get) put in a 5-hr energy shot (use 3 vitamin B caps 1 no-doz and a little apple juice if they don't sell those down there), 1 can of Red Bull and fill the rest of the cup with Mountain Dew soda. You might never sleep again.
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Just looking over the schedule, even if the Fish keep winning, I don't see how they can make up the five games they trail the Rocks. Major bummer. The Bucs are not looking good this year, Panthers either. I'm trying to adopt the Predators but just can't make myself do it so far. I actually used to go to Panthers games, I can't break the attachment and pull for a team I've never seen just because they are the "local" team. Gonna be a blue winter for me. Go Gators!
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A fun little game to play!
in Way Off-Topic
Volo is not motivated enough to make an alt