Thoughts Aloud

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The most recent edition of Imprimis, a monthly pamphlet published by Hillsdale College is well worth the few minutes needed to read it. The title is Calvin Coolidge and the Moral Case for Economy written by Amity Shlaes.

In this article, Ms. Shlaes describes the discipline and the rationale President Coolidge used in managing the federal budget during his presidency. And, manage it he did!

Many in the GOP of today yearn for another Ronald Reagan when what we really need is another Calvin Coolidge. While it is true that Mr. Reagan’s economic policies did lower the overall tax burden, generating one of the longest periods of growth in our history, most seem to have forgotten that his policies also allowed for almost uncontrolled growth of government spending and the corresponding expansion of government. Looking back from our present condition, it is reasonable to ask whether the temporary rise in prosperity was worth the permanent damage of government growth.

Troy L Robinson

In a number of recent articles, I have repeated my prediction that the Obamanation intends to declare martial law in the United States. What I don’t know is when or under what pretext.

1) Many of the preparations are obvious:

→ Over 1.6 billion rounds of ammunition stockpiled by the Department of Homeland Security with more on order. Some speculate that all this ammunition buying is merely to keep the ammunition off the shelves of firearms dealers but I suspect otherwise.

→ The purchase of 2,700 Mine Resistant Armor Protected Vehicles (MRAP) by the Department of Homeland Security. Are we to suppose that these are intended to protect FEMA personnel during hurricanes? Hardly.

→ The myriad emerging plans to control and/or confiscate firearms in civilian ownership.

→ The growing number of drone aircraft in use within our borders.

→ The growing and pervasive invasions of personal privacy – GPS tracking, telephone monitoring, cameras everywhere, email monitoring, etc.

→ The Obamanation granting himself the authority to order the execution of United States citizens, of his own choice, without even a hint of due process.
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According to a recent poll, the Obamanation enjoys a job approval rating of about 54%. How on earth can this be so? This is especially amazing given all the recent noise concerning the so-called sequestration.

Consider the obvious facts:

→ The idea of a sequester came originally from the administration, probably from the Obamanation himself.

→ Until just a few weeks ago, the Obamanation publicly and vocally argued in favor of the sequester.

→ Suddenly, and inexplicably, the Obamanation began to publicly and vocally argue against the sequester.

→ Even more inexplicably, the Obamanation now tries to place the blame for the sequester (or, at least, for letting it take effect) on the GOP.

→ Then, the Obamanation promises to implement the sequester in a manner calculated to cause the maximum pain to the very citizens he claims to want to help.

Add to this the obvious power grabs, the rule by edict (aka executive orders), the insane spending, the constant lying, the outlandish costs associated with unnecessary travel and entertainment while the citizenry suffer economically, etc., etc.

And We-The-Sheeple respond with a positive job approval rating for this egomaniac? It simply makes no sense.
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So, we have yet another school shoot-up and yet another outcry for gun control. OK, let us pretend we really do want to “control” guns… what would that mean? Do we control only certain kinds of guns? Do we simply control magazine capacity? How about controlling ammunition instead? After all, how useful is a gun without ammunition?

My friends, please step back and think about what we are really talking about here. Set aside, for the moment, such ideas as basic rights, the 2nd amendment to our Constitution and other such and let us discuss the actual mechanics of real gun control.

First, how many guns are there already in the hands of civilian Americans? A Google search yields an estimate of 200 million

Second, would anything short of a total ban on future sales and total confiscation of ALL guns be effective in eliminating “gun violence”? Recent events suggest it takes only one gun, in the wrong hands, to do appreciable damage. Does anyone reading this actually believe that such confiscation could be accomplished in anything less than a “police state”?

Third, what of the estimated 150 million guns in the hands of military and law enforcement personnel? Can we be assured that these will never be misused? Can we assume that the increased value of such guns (after confiscation of civilian guns) will not tempt their being sold on the inevitable black market?

Fourth, what about that black market? Are we to believe that the United Nations, an organization that has yet to accomplish anything meaningful in its entire existence, is going to peacefully eliminate all guns worldwide? If not, will there not develop a black market in guns and ammunition that would put the narcotics market to shame?

The simple truth is that a gun ban in America (or worldwide) is not in the least feasible. We have a gun culture here and a majority of us are quite happy with it.
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Have we yet seen enough wreckage to realize that the GOP is defunct, and has been since the Reagan era?

Indeed, the only thing that has even hinted at GOP success since then was the election of Bushes I and II who were actually neo-socialists pretending to be political conservatives.

As we observe the train wreck pretending to be a party today, we see disorganized mess that lacks leadership and that has no real message other than the social-conservative nonsense that: a) has no place in national politics, and, b) alienates the majority of the electorate.

Is it not past time for a coalition of fiscal conservatives, constitutionalists, and libertarians to take control of what remains of the GOP, force the social conservatives out, and build a party that truly reflects the position of main-stream America? Such a position would be fiscally conservative and socially liberal – a position offered today only by the Libertarian Party (of which I am a member). However, the LP is also defunct in that it suffers under a name that, however unfairly, has been discredited beyond redemption.

My reasoning is that the GOP, however defunct it may be as a political force, still has an infrastructure that is part of the political reality of the current political process. Why not have the coalition I mention above merely take control of this infrastructure? This seems to me far more possible than for any of the presumptive third parties to break into the duopoly as it currently exists by building their own competitive infrastructures. This would provide virtually instant access to ballot presence, debate participation, party name recognition, etc.

Despite the fact that my rational self knows that America is most probably done for, it is simply not in my nature to shut up and take it so long as any form of resistance is possible.

Please offer your critique of this idea along with ideas of you own. We simply cannot imitate the Jews of WWII and meekly shuffle along to the gas chambers.

Think about it – then speak up.

Troy L Robinson

After the 2008 election, an editor in the Czech Republic opined that the real tragedy in America was not that Barack Obama was president but, rather, that he could be elected president in a nation like ours.

Clearly, he did not fully appreciate what our nation had become.

What does this imply four years later when, despite all the crimes and misdemeanors he has committed against our Constitution, that Obama could be re-elected?

It implies that we have reached that point where a majority of the voters prefer a Marxist dictatorship. That being the case, then the Covenant joined by the several States at the end of the 18th century is truly rendered null and void.

As I see it, the only possible (peaceful) remedy left to us is for those States (a majority actually) who still cling to the old principles enshrined in our Constitution to withdraw from the broken Covenant and seek a new beginning as independent sovereign States, or, by forming new federations with other States as they think best for their future freedom and prosperity.

For my part, I have no wish to force, or even persuade, my fellow citizens to change their minds. I ask only that they do not impose their shortsightedness on those of us who prefer a different course.

However, if those mistaken souls control our central government, that is what MUST happen.

I am privileged to have enjoyed America during her best days and I am totally saddened that I did not do more to prevent the tragedy that has befallen her and her people.

Goodbye America. You will be missed by all those who cherish liberty, free markets and individualism.

Troy L Robinson

This from: Fox News

Complaints crop up in Ohio of early voting machines marking Romney votes for Obama

Early voting problems in the key battleground state of Ohio are fueling concerns in the final days until Election Day, with the national race essentially tied in the latest Fox News poll.

After several early voters in North Carolina said last week they cast ballots for Mitt Romney but the electronic ballot machine logged their pick as President Obama, similar problems have popped up this week in Ohio.

Voters said they selected Romney on the touch screen but an Obama vote was logged instead.

“You want to vote for who you want to vote for, and when you can’t it’s irritating,” Ohio voter Joan Steven told the Marion Star.

As with the North Carolina cases, election officials had the machine inspected and re-calibrated.

Ohio is widely said to the be the most sought-after state in the two campaign’s electoral pathway to the White House because of its 18 electoral votes and nearly even split between Obama and Romney, though Obama has held onto a slight lead in recent polls.

The Fox News poll released Wednesday showed the national matchup tied at 46 percent.

Despite the best efforts of Ayn Rand that the Society that succeeded her, the economic system commonly called capitalism consistently fails to garner the praise and respect it is due. I think that, in large measure, this is because far too many of us really do not know what the term means and even less so all that it implies. That plus a general misunderstanding the environment required for it to flourish.

The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary offers this definition for capitalism:

: an economic system characterized by private or corporate ownership of capital goods, by investments that are determined by private decision, and by prices, production, and the distribution of goods that are determined mainly by competition in a free market.

While I do not disagree with this definition, I find it a bit academic and I also think it falls short in many respects. To supplement this, I offer my own definition for capitalism:

: an economic system in which privately owned assets are leveraged, as determined by private decision, to generate new or additional wealth, subject to competition in a free market.

Please note that in both definitions, the operative words are “private” and “free” (as opposed to state controlled).

However, our definition is still lacking in that it allows to stand unchallenged, the mistaken notion that “capital” equals “money” – a mistaken notion that promoted by the progressive movement as is made obvious by many misleading claims being made in the current presidential contest. Far too many people extend this mistaken notion (capital = money) to mean, by implication, that “capitalism” means “the rule of money” (ergo, the rule of those who have it in abundance).
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On June 16, 1858, Abraham Lincoln made a speech accepting the Republican party’s nomination for U. S. Senator from the State of Illinois. The best remembered quote from that speech was the line: “A house divided against itself cannot stand”.

As all American school children once knew, two years later, Abraham Lincoln was elected President of the United States and his “house” that was his nation sought to end its division by a bloody Civil War which, in some respects, has yet to truly end – in that the Republic has, since that time, never been truly united. The lesson, if there be one, being that pummeling your opposition into submission is never the same as convincing them of the rightness of your cause and convincing them to join you in its furtherance.

Once again, we are a “house” that is very dangerously “divided against itself”. And while, on the surface, the basis of that division appears quite different from that of Lincoln’s time, at an essential level, the basis is the same.

It is nothing more or less than a terminal disagreement over the proper roles of our Federal, State and Local Governments.
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The combination of high doses of pain relievers and the general lack of anything new on the political front has kept me quiet for a while. Yet, I’m recovering from my recent surgeries (in spite of myself) and I simply MUST rant about something.

The recent alleged “debate” would have been an apt subject in other days but this continued battle between tweedle-dum and tweedle-dummer leaves me mentally numb.

But, I did manage to find something worthy of my attention. Returning from a recent trip to Austin, we tuned into a local talk radio program. At the point where we tuned in, the topic was the firing of a female guidance counselor named Tiffany Webb by a New York high school.

It seems that Ms. Webb was highly regarded in her job. However, it evidently came to the attention of the authorities that 17 years earlier, well before becoming a teacher, Ms. Webb worked as a lingerie/bikini model and that some photos of her work are still extant – including on the Internet.

The school authorities decided that those photos rendered Ms. Webb unqualified to work with the young. (Kindly note there was nothing remotely illegal or even improper in her modeling work.)

This raises several very clear and very troubling questions about the current state of our society and its attitudes.
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From: Urban Dictionary

Ineptocracy (in-ep-toc’-ra-cy) – a system of government where the least capable to lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a diminishing number of producers.

See also: Obama Administration

Troy

Someone sent this to my mate…

COSTELLO: I want to talk about the unemployment rate in America .

ABBOTT: Good Subject. Terrible Times. It’s 9%.

COSTELLO: That many people are out of work?

ABBOTT: No, that’s 16%.

COSTELLO: You just said 9%.

ABBOTT: 9% Unemployed.

COSTELLO: Right 9% out of work.

ABBOTT: No, that’s 16%.

COSTELLO: Okay, so it’s 16% unemployed.

ABBOTT: No, that’s 9%…

COSTELLO: WAIT A MINUTE. Is it 9% or 16%?
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I just finished reading Mortality by the late Christopher Hitchens. The book was written in the ~18 months between his being diagnosed with cancer and his ultimate passing — with an added chapter written by his widow.

It is a rather short book but has some interesting insights from a dying committed atheist who just happened to also be an excellent writer.

Troy

This from: http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/breakout/middle-class-vs-1-really-ugly-141135691.html?l=1

…That message is right in line with the 2012 Democratic National Platform. Here’s one of the first paragraphs from the 40-page document.

The Republican Party has turned its back on the middle class Americans who built this country.

OK guys, make up your minds… did we-the-sheeple build anything or not? When the Obamanation said “you did not build that”, exactly who was the YOU he was speaking to? I rather assumed it was all of us. Now, with this more recent statement, I am confused.

Would whoever actually built something please stand up and be counted?

Troy

On numerous occasions, while driving the highways of the deep South, I have encountered billboards proclaiming in very large script: ”God Is The Answer”.

Most times, my internal response was something smart-ass clever such as “fine, but what was the question?”.

Then, one day it struck me that these signs are absolutely accurate. God Is The Answer… to the questions that have no other answer.

The wiser folks among us, when asked a question to which they do not know the correct answer, or, better yet, a question to which, within the current scope of human knowledge, no answer is knowable, will respond simply “I don’t know”.

But, those of us who are less wise, especially those of us who are uncomfortable with our lack of wisdom, are usually reluctant to admit such lack of knowledge. So, far too many of us answer the unanswerable with “God”.
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I just got this in an email from RandPAC…

Recently, the Department of Homeland Security purchased 750 million rounds of ammo.

Our military only went through about 70 million rounds per year during the Iraq War!

Is there a growing chance that the upcoming “election” may be beside the point? That the Obamanation & Company have no intention of stepping down when their ultimate victory must seem so close at hand??

Also, why is the GOP “officially” silent on this stuff? Why was there no mention at the Convention of the obvious trend toward dictatorship?

Could it be that RandPAC is yanking my chain with false information?? If so, to what purpose?

I don’t get it.

Troy

Here is a way to help evaluate who you should really support in the presidential election.

If you will visit this site, answer the questions truthfully and unemotionally (and, without second-guessing how you think your response will be evaluated, you may be surprised at the result.

If you don’t mind sharing, please reply to this and let us know your result. I will start the ball rolling by exposing my results in my own response.

Troy

Just when you think we have seen the worst from the Obamanation, up comes this:

Democrats Introduce Bill to Seal Up Obama’s Presidential Records

Given that everything else about this fraud is sealed up, I guess this only makes sense.

One thing really does puzzle me though… is there nothing this guy can do that will get some negative reaction from the fools who support him? Such as the Lame-Stream-Media??

Do the bozos in the LSM really believe that they are in for favorable treatment once the Obamanation and his thugs achieve total dictatorship???

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As everyone in the universe should know by now, the Robamaney has chosen a running mate, one Paul Ryan, congressman from Wisconsin and author of a budget proposal full of “drastic cuts” that would, given a miracle, somehow balance the federal budget in 30 years or so. The perfect match for Robamaney who promised deficits of about $300B per year into the unknown future.

Yet, I heard a campaign ad for these very same candidates this very day telling me that they had plans, not only to balance the budget, but to also start paying down our national debt.

I respond to this nonsense by simply reminding you all that Doctor Einstein once explained that the true definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over, expecting a different outcome.

Both the duopoly candidates have the very same underlying message for we the sheeple: “YOU ARE STUPID – VOTE FOR ME AND PROVE IT”

What a treat it was to spend an entire week among people who are actually capable of rational thought (on the Reason Cruise). Did I agree with all that was said? Of course not. But I did appreciate that almost all of what I heard was the result of thinking rather than blind emotional reaction.

Troy L Robinson

Amystic: A person who rejects the supernatural, whether in the form of God or gods, elves or faries etc., or other non-demonstrable concepts such as parallel universes and time(history) travel.

This is exactly the sort of word many of us have been looking for because it describes our point of view exactly.. Thanks Dae for bringing it up.

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