Where the Court Took Us

If Congress can do whatever in their discretion can be done by money, and will promote the General Welfare, the Government is no longer a limited one, possessing enumerated powers, but an indefinite one, subject to particular exceptions.

. . . James Madison

Letter to Edmund Pendleton

1792

*     *     *     *     *

With its Obamacare ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court destroyed the last vestiges of Constitutional restrictions on the ability of congress to encroach without any limitations on all but a few specific and narrowly defined rights of individuals and the states.

Chief Justice John Robber and his cohorts have made it clear that individual liberties and a free society probably will require restoration by people doing more with their firearms than just clinging to them.  

Just Beautiful . . . Absolutely Marvelous

Rejected Again . . . Undoubtedly Because of Racisim

Questions from Maxine

If it's true that we are here to help others, then what exactly are the others here for? 

Why do they put pictures of criminals up in the Post Office? What are we supposed to do, write to them? Why don't they just put their pictures on the postage stamps so the letter carriers can look for them while they deliver the mail? 

What hair color do they put on the driver's licenses of bald men? 

Whatever happened to Preparations A through G ?

Republicons With True Grit Would Exercise the Power of the Purse to Exorcize Obamacare

No official or agency of the federal government can send a single dime unless it has been appropriated by congress for the purpose of any proposed expenditure.


Therefore, the Republicon majority in the House of Reprehensibles could -- if they had any guts -- bring the Obamacare travesty to an immediate screeching halt by (i) refusing to provide, and (ii) prohibiting the expenditure of a single coin of the realm for its implementation.

On the Black Caucus Walkout

One of history's rare reported instances of 

the trash taking itself out.

Creating Helpless Victims

Laws that forbid the carrying of arms . . . disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes . . . .  Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man.

. . . Cesare Beccaria

On Crimes and Punishment

Quoted by Thomas Jefferson 

in Commonplace Book

From Another (and Better) Time

Bess and Harry Truman

Our  children and grandchildren won't believe this but it’s true:

Harry Truman was a different kind of President. He probably made as many, or more important decisions regarding our nation's history as any of the other 42 Presidents preceding him. However, a measure of his greatness may rest on what he did after he left the White House.

The only asset he had when he died was the house he lived in, which was in Independence, Missouri . His wife had inherited the house from her mother and father and other than their years in the White House, they lived their entire lives there.

When he retired from office in 1952 his income was a U.S. Army pension reported to have been $13,507.72 a year. Congress, noting that he was paying for his stamps and personally licking them, granted him an 'allowance' and, later, a retroactive pension of $25,000 per year.

After President Eisenhower was inaugurated, Harry and Bess drove home to Missouri by themselves. There was no Secret Service following them.

When offered corporate positions at large salaries, he declined, stating, "You don't want me. You want the office of the President, and that doesn't belong to me. It belongs to the American people and it's not for sale."

Even later, on May 6, 1971, when Congress was preparing to award him the Medal of Honor on his 87th birthday, he refused to accept it, writing, "I don't consider that I have done anything which should be the reason for any award, Congressional or otherwise."

As president he paid for all of his own travel expenses and food.

Modern politicians have found a new level of success in cashing in on the presidency, resulting in untold wealth. Today, many in Congress also have found a way to become quite wealthy while enjoying the fruits of their offices. Political offices are now for sale (cf. Illinois ).

Good old Harry Truman was correct when he observed, "My choices in life were either to be a piano player in a whore house or a politician. And to tell the truth, there's hardly any difference!"

I say dig him up and clone him!

About Life

Devoid of any idea of the purpose of life and, in fact, dubious about whether there is any such thing, your not-so-humble blogger has reflected on, and reached some conclusions about the components of a good and satisfying existence. There appear to be seven of them, and here is my opinion of what they are:

7.  Ice Cream, Chocolate, and Desserts,
all, of course, mit schlag

(together with food and drink generally)

6.  Laughter

5.  Knowledge and Its Pursuit

4.  Respect for Oneself and Others

3.  Friends

2.  Sex

1.  Freedom

Nasty Nancy May Be On To Something

If the Supreme Court upholds Obamacare, screwball Nancy Pelosi may be right in predicting a six-to-three vote by the justices.


If one of the five supposedly conservative justices votes to uphold the law, a second one also may do so, switching from voting to strike it down to avoid a five-to-four vote against it, simply to promote public acceptance of the legitimacy of the court and its decision-making process.


A five-to-four vote on the controversial measure would never be accepted as legitimate because of valid questions about whether one of the justices, Elena Kagan, should have recused herself because of work she did on the abominable law as a member of the Obama administration before she was appointed to the court.


A six-to-three vote upholding the law would make such questions moot and give a ruling for it a semblance of legitimacy. Maintaining respect for the court always is the uppermost concern of its sitting justices notwithstanding their individual views on any particular issue.

No Need For Obama Begathon To Limit Its Scrounging To Just Wedding Gifts

Click On Image To Enlarge It For Viewing 

Recognize Our Rulers for What They Are . . . and Address Them Accordingly

An earlier post on this blog actually understated the truth about individuals who currently hold a public office that calls for its occupant to be addressed as honorable when it pointed out that such individuals  almost certainly are not honorable and are unworthy of any such honorific.


Eric Holder, the nation's attorney general and head of the bureaucratic body that he has transformed into the Department of Just Us, proves the point. In his lengthy tenure at the public trough Mr. Holder has wracked up an awesome record of public disservice. He deserves to be, and in any rational society he would be addressed as The Contemptible Eric Holder.


Mr. Holder may get his comeuppance for displaying contempt for the body of his fellow contemptibles who comprise the U.S. House of Reprehensibles.


But I digress. The point is that citizens who are gainfully employed in the private sector would be well advised to knock public office holders back down into their rightful place as public servants . . . and a good place to start would be by no longer addressing any of them as the honorable anything. In fact, we should begin addressing anyone who has become accustomed to being addressed as The Honorable So-and So as The Contemptible So-and-So.  The Con. makes a good substitute and today is far more accurate in almost all instances. 

Shouldn't Be a Crime Anyway

In the wake of the acquittal of Roger Clemens on charges of having lied to Congress, one has to ask how, in any event, could it possibly be a crime for anyone to lie to the greatest collection of liars ever assembled under one roof.

Smart Question

E-Mail from an Old Friend

Just wanted to let you know - today I received my 2012 Social Security Stimulus Package.

It contained two watermelon seeds, cornbread mix, a prayer rug, a machine to blow smoke up my rear, 2 discount coupons to KFC, an "Obama Hope & Change" bumper sticker, and a "Blame it on Bush" poster for the front yard.

The directions were in Spanish.

Watch for yours soon. 

"Dallas" Not the Only Thing That's Back

The original "Dallas" series started in 1978. Back then, America was very different. We had an ineffective, one-term president. Gas prices were through the roof. We were in a stand-off with Iran. I'm glad those dark days are over.

. . . Craig Ferguson

The Unspeakable Doing the Unthinkable In Pursuit of the Uneatable

Oscar Wilde said something like that about the recreational fox hunts in which England's elites used to engage to amuse themselves.


It is even more applicable to the ongoing hunt by members of America's current political and chattering classes for the source of leaks that exposed our government's pursuit of  activities far more barbarous and destructive than anything ever engaged in by any four-legged creature.


The question of whether we would be better advised to focus more on our government's debasement of our country's traditional culture, values, and laws than on those bringing those malodorous activities to light is examined by Judge Andrew Napolitano in this excellent essay.

Economic Timeline in Brief -- A Dose of Reality

January 2009 -- Its present occupier moves into the oval office.

June 2009 -- Government (with support of most economic and academic experts) officially declares recession to be over.

July 2009 -- First economic measures of the new administration become effective. Many more quickly follow.

Three years later -- Stagflation, high unemployment, reduced workforce, food stamp use at record levels, net worth of citizens devastatingly evaporated: the new normal under Obama. Administration adamant -- won't change economic policies that haven't worked in three years.

What was it that Einstein said about repeatedly doing the same thing and and expecting a different result?

Our Fearsome Police State In Action . . . Why the Second Amendment Is Necessary

Now the Chicago police department is following Obama’s example and telling people that their First Amendment rights can be terminated anytime.  Check out the incident caught on camera when a couple of news reporters were trying to cover a story outside a Chicago hospital.

Following the threat, the officer arrested the two journalists. Even though they were released a short time later, the incident has not gone unnoticed. According to the National Press Photographers Association, there have been 70 such arrests that they have documented since last September. Many of the arrests have involved the filming of news stories when the police decide they don’t want to allow it to be filmed. They seem to just arbitrarily decide on their own when it is legal and when it isn’t.

Differing Investment Imperatives

Though hardly a Mitt Romney fan, I have to acknowledge the  stellar record he achieved in the private equity industry. He did that in the course of investing his own funds together with funds that other investors voluntarily contributed to his ventures. Absent anything other than a consistent record of success, those voluntary contributions would not have been forthcoming.


Contrast that with the record achieved in the profligate spending of public funds referred to as "investments" by our Chosen One. That of course is possible because there is nothing voluntary about taxpayers anteing up the funds distributed to the likes of Solyndra and other Obama cronies. Neither success nor persuasion is necessary to come up with the funding.  'Investing' with the government is compulsory. Individuals not ponying up appropriately and their assets can be carted off by armed government goons who can appear at the door of reluctant 'contributors' at any time.

News Item's Astute Analysis

Guantanamo Bay is now undergoing millions of dollars worth of renovations, including a new soccer field, cable TV, and better housing. Which is kind of ironic. The only people who say they're better off today than they were four years ago are the inmates at Guantanamo Bay.

. . . Jay Leno

Private Sector Perspective

Based on his experience with the private sector, it is not surprising that our Chosen One thinks it is doing well. After all, Obama's exposure to the private sector has spanned the gamut from George Clooney to Sarah Jessica Parker . . . and they as well as others in their milieu are doing just fine. Isn't that just dandy?

Psychology 101 . . . or Why We Must Replace All of Them

If you start with a cage containing five monkeys and inside the cage, hang a banana on a string from the top and then you place a set of stairs under the banana, before long a monkey will go to the stairs and climb toward the banana.

As soon as he touches the stairs, you spray all the other monkeys with cold water.

After a while another monkey makes an attempt with same result . . . all the other monkeys are sprayed with cold water. Pretty soon when another monkey tries to climb the stairs, the other monkeys will try to prevent it.

Now, put the cold water away.

Remove one monkey from the cage and replace it with a new one.

The new monkey sees the banana and attempts to climb the stairs. To his shock, all of the other monkeys beat the crap out of him.  After another attempt and attack, he knows that if he tries to climb the stairs he will be assaulted.

Next, remove another of the original five monkeys, replacing it with a new one.

The newcomer goes to the stairs and is attacked. The previous newcomer takes part in the punishment . .. with enthusiasm, because he is now part of the "team."

Then, replace a third original monkey with a new one, followed by the fourth, then the fifth. Every time the newest monkey takes to the stairs he is attacked.

Now, the monkeys that are beating him up have no idea why they were not permitted to climb the stairs. Neither do they know why they are participating in the beating of the newest monkey.

Finally, having replaced all of the original monkeys, none of the remaining monkeys will have ever been sprayed with cold water. Nevertheless, not one of the monkeys will try to climb the stairway for the banana.

Why, you ask? Because in their minds . . . that is the way it has always been!

This, my friends, is how Congress operates . . . and this is why, from time to time:

ALL of the monkeys need to be REPLACED AT THE SAME TIME