Straight Lines

This week we found out (what some of us already knew) that Obamacare will explode the Federal budget rather than save money (as we were told); that repealing it would cost us even more; that all the money in the world would fail to pay for it (along with all the other government programs already grinding our nation to a halt). So, the next step in the puzzle will quite naturally center on raising the debt ceiling once again.

I have a solution: Let’s just set the debt ceiling to quadrillions and get it over and done with. Or, let’s set it to a number that hasn’t even been invented yet; or, let’s set it to infinity and never have to undergo the unpleasantness of budgeting ever again (for as long as we live).

Why not? We now know that Obamacare was never about health; and neither was it (as has now become apparent) about saving money. We’ve been down this road before and have become quite comfortable with it. Tax policy, for instance, also does not seem to be about having sufficient funds to run governments (Federal and state). We’ve long ago managed to crush the life out of the proverbial golden goose. In any number of our states - you know the ones - taxes are so high already that people a fleeing to other states and taking their money with them, much less opening businesses in those afflicted areas most in need of inflating an ever-expanding tax base.

Similarly, science has been elevated to a new level (as some would say “it’s proper place“). The coldest winter anyone can remember is now put down to ‘global warming’ - a virtual treasure trove of carbon credits - and liberally (rhetorically) promoted as such in every college and university of (free) academic standing.

Similarly, it was reported last week that, California ushered in in excess of 700 new laws with the start of the new year. It was suggested that Californians themselves are not even aware of what all these might portend. It may all come to the same end: laws or no laws. Existing laws not enforceable or not enforced. New laws applied selectively and certainly adding to a climate of uncertainty; again, causing a flight to greener pastures particularly by those wishing to escape the choking grip of government regulation which (as has become evident) is out to destroy every last vestige of spontaneity.

We no longer trust each other. Above all, we no longer trust our government; the representatives of which - those young tykes we ourselves put through law school - who have come back telling us that it’s quite alright for us to say that two plus two equals five or any number (as long as it’s bigger than four).

Words too have taken a beating. There’s a whole bunch of them that now pose a personal risk to ourselves (like Limbaugh, Beck and Injun); and, even in private (industry), there are some now charged with exorcizing ‘politically sensitive’ material from books that were once deemed classics.

The word ’enemy’, for example, has taken on a new, much more benign nuance to apply only to ourselves; a nod, perhaps, to a notion that is gaining popularity by leaps and bounds: jihad, popularly defined as the process of self-examination and cleansing - a constant solitary struggle (we are told).

And so it goes. The only ones standing in the way of progress are those fuddy-duddy tea party types who still cling to their religion, guns, and the now thoroughly discarded notion of straight lines.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Batchelor @ the Hard Rock

I cannot believe that Californians are still suffering from Bush Derangement Syndrome. If true, it’s the only way to explain it - putting Democrats back in office. Carly Fioria is a survivor. That in itself should say it all. Boxer is a clinger. Whitman is a message. Brown is an antique.

This brings to mind something I had forgotten: Remember back when Rush Limbaugh lost his hearing? Can you imagine anything worse than for a radio host to lose hearing? Yet, he never missed a beat. True, those initial broadcasts right after his hearing loss were painful to listen to. (Someone had to transcribe what was said by his callers for him to read.) Still, it amounted to a magnificent display of pure will.

Last night at the Hard Rock was equally inspiring. Surely John’s job is a lot more difficult than how he made it seem. I was especially pleased to find myself in the same room as Malcolm Hoenlein. Larry Kudlow was better than he is on his own show, and Monica and Margaret graced the stage with their beauty and intellect.

I had expected something far more informal. McCotter doing a guitar solo, perhaps; or Sapientia taking a bow. None of that. It was professional all the way. BRAVO, John!

We’ll have to do it again!

The Winter of Our Discontent

The winter of our discontent looms large: unresponsive government, poised to pursue its own agenda; global alliances scrambling to realign; policies tailored exclusively to expediency. Meanwhile, fires are burning everywhere – both literally and figuratively. We feel like we’re all suddenly in California just waiting for the landmass to detach and float out to sea. Everyone knows instinctively that we have hit an iceberg. Luckily – thanks to ‘global warming’ – the iceberg is now smaller than the ship. It may yet make it to port (though with the pirates still out there, one never knows).

School children singing praises to the naked boy emperor has been the story of the week. We’re clearly uncomfortable with that. I suspect it’s not that we have a problem with children singing. It’s Obama we have a problem with. Just wait ‘till Christmas when the Left will counter punch by announcing their own problem with Jesus.

In the midst of all the turmoil, deception, grandstanding, holocaust denying, genocide threatening and pancake feasting – deliberately designed to overwhelm the system and render it paralyzed – one single voice rang out. It rose above the clutter of egos continuously shattering and reassembling, forever re-emerging in unpredictable, increasingly flamboyant avatars. It cut through the steady stream of outrage that has now been dubbed ‘mainstream’. Everybody heard these words, spoken by a sober, well-informed man – so rare in our time – precisely because they cut to the heart of every problem we face today: “Have you no shame?”

Eco-Terror

Forty years ago, some friends of mine bought a partially destroyed (by fire) ranch in a lovely secluded California valley. They rebuilt the main structure and furnished it with furniture they had brought from the east. I had occasion to visit them some years later and was utterly charmed. It was unlike anything I had ever seen before: gently rolling hills, covered with tall, golden grass rippling in the near constant breeze. I wondered privately whether the investment had been worth it. It seemed to me that a stray match, a cigarette or a lightning strike could easily raze this idyll at a moment’s notice. But in the forty years that have passed since, nothing of the sort ever happened.

This leads me to suspect the origin of recent high-profile fires in California and elsewhere. Indeed, arson is often confirmed as having been a factor.

As eco-awareness has developed into a significant political movement the world over, eco-terrorism increasingly becomes an attractive way to get the message out: Mankind (primarily America) is destroying the planet. This is not to say that the environment is not changing; that it has not gotten hotter and dryer in some places; that any ground cover there has not become decidedly more combustible.

But, we could deal with all of this if it were possible for us to work together. Unfortunately, the environmental movement as it exists today knows nothing of compromise. In that it is radical. It argues for the complete cessation of industrial development. As such, it favors pulling the plug on energy. It sees no downside to the societal chaos that would ensue. In fact, it would welcome any crisis, human or otherwise, to help push its 'flat earth, no growth' agenda.

Eco-warriors have learned their social theory well. They know that chaos is the first step to bringing about the revolution that would usher in Marxism. They know that Communism can only really succeed in a highly successful capitalist nation in which the populace has been made to become so disgusted and disillusioned, as to gladly submit to the tyrannical bit. To this end, no manner of mischief is entirely wasted as long as it serves to keep the society unhinged.

Adding ‘acts of God’ to the list of man-caused ecological disruptions only increases the effectiveness of their efforts exponentially. …and many of us are buying into the scheme. Instead of thinking for ourselves and exposing the dirty political trickery for what it is, we capitulate – all the way to the ‘death (of freedom) panel’.