Hail Caligula and His Horse, Incitatus!

Dear Abby,

I had a friend who, when they were with me, made me believe that I was the most important thing to them. They told me that their most highest goal was to help me be the best I could be, that they would help me take care of my family, that they would make sure we had the best of everything. They said if I would help them move to another city, that they would be able to do more for me, to make my life even better than before. I believed them, got my friends to help them too, working day and night to make sure they had what they needed for the move.

Then they moved away....

Now they never call or write unless they need something, which, in their case, is all too often. They're guilting me and my friends into doing more for them, frightening us too, telling us if we don't help them someone might hurt them, even hurt us. What kind of person would promise to give us everything, then work as hard as they can to take it away?

They say they know what's best for me and my friends. Something just doesn't feel right. I can’t trust them anymore. Abby, what should I do?

Signed,

Failed by a Friend

This sentiment expressed in the fictional letter above has been given voice millions of time in the last year, but not about a faithless friend. It is an indictment of the political class in America.

People in elected office all over the country have broken faith with their constituents. Politicians turned starry-eyed crowds of admirers into believers in the unbelievable, in the hope that, if they were elected to office, things would change. If they got power they could improve our schools and roads, make our children safer, not raise or cut taxes, grow the economy, strengthen our nation at home and make us more respected abroad, make health care available to everyone, slow the rise of the oceans and fundamentally transform the United States of America.

What do the starry-eyed crowds have to show for the time, toil and treasure, all the promises? Graft and corruption - dissipation and venality - millions spent for liquor, junkets and junk - democrat degeneracy, progressive profligacy, and Republican reprobacy. It's not for nothing that most Americans believe the country is on the wrong track.

The central problem is not the country, but the government. Very few Americans approve of Congress. In fact, that anyone in America approves of their actions indicates that there is something wrong with that segment of the population.

The government/media enterprise is working overtime to convince people that their best hope for social, economic and ecological justice is a second-world remake of our enduring institutions. Know-nothing politicians cite the general welfare clause from Article 1 section 8 of the U.S. Constitution as the source of the penumbra from which emanates the "right" to health care, and then proceed to ram the legislation through the Congress and down our throats. They justify their actions by claiming a majority support this, when the truth is that 61% of Americans believe the current proposals need to be scrapped. President Obama says we will recognize the value of his plan once health reform is passed and the furor dies down. Yet, while hosting the Republicans at a heath care summit at Blair House, he has a proposal ready for passage via reconciliation in the Senate.

Long ago in the health care or health insurance "reform" debate, Obamacare was derided as a trojan horse for socialism. I would submit that, based on their imperious attitude toward the American people, the imperial House, Senate, and Obama administration are more like the dissolute Roman emperor, Caligula. Obamacare is more like Caligula's horse, Incitatus who, according to legend, was put forward by Caligula as a member of the Roman senate. Hail Caligula and the horse, Incitatus!

Like Caligula, Congress and the administration require homage and tribute from their subjects. They name bridges, parks, post offices and office buildings after themselves. They memorialize themselves in airports, universities, and even statues. Like Caligula, who worshipped Incitatus the horse as the embodiment of at least six Roman deities, and provided him a gold and ivory stable encrusted stable, President Obama (“sort of god… above the country….”, according to Newsweek Magazine editor Evan Thomas) and Congress have wrapped Obamacare in the gilded box of social and economic justice and deficit reduction. They demand obeisance and fidelity to Obamacare and command Republicans and C-SPAN to summits in its name.

Jeers to President Barack Obama and the progressive majority of the 110^th Congress for fiddling with health care while the economy burned! Their legacy will be written in the red ink of profligacy and crushing debt. Their squander of American treasure would make even Caligula blush. Incitatus, too....

Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.

Harry Reid's "health reform" debacle

So Harry had to buy Senator Mary Landrieux, democrat Lousiana, to get her vote. He had to toss the so-called "public option" overboard to buy the vote of Senator Joseph Lieberman, Independent from Connecticut. Now there are supposed changes to the abortion language to mollify Senator Ben Nelson, democrat Nebraska, to get his vote. Oh yeah, almost forgot - and some unspecified amount of federal health care dollars, covered under a portion of the legislation written specifically for the state of Nebraska, to be paid beginning January 1, 2017(!).

According to Cox Radio correspondent Jamie Dupree, the abortion provision changes that satisfied Nelson have angered Representative Bart Stupak Democrat of Michigan, who calls the language "unacceptable". Politico.com reports that Stupak says he has to the votes to stop the bill.

While Stupak was making his objections known, the National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL), also came out against the modified abortion language in the bill. Planned Parenthood and the National Organization of Women (NOW) have raised their own objections to the Reid-Nelson abortion compromise, as well.

Does this mean that Reid's cloture-ready democrat majority is blown up again? What will it take to buy off Stupak and the House anti-abortion Democrats? Are all democrat politicians for sale? Will the pro-abortion caucus in the Senate bow to pressure from abortion interest groups and reject cloture on the bill as it now stands?

Stay tuned.

Eternal vigilance, indeed....

Of Partisan Hacks, Rank Hypocrites and Opportunists

It is the rankest form of hypocrisy for democrat partisan hacks in Washington
to complain about the quality of the Afghan government and the cost of the Afghanistan war.

FoxNews.com quotes Richard Durbin, ranking democrat partisan hack from Illinois, speaking about Afghanistan, "...there's a lot to be desired in terms of the last election and the corruption in his government". I suppose it's some kind of mental or rhetorical slip as he goes on to ask, "Are we going to let American soldiers stay there (in Afghanistan) indefinitely while they dither, in Vice President Cheney's words?"

I could give Durbin the benefit of the doubt and assume that he's accusing President Karzai and the Afghan government of dithering. However, based on Durbin's behavior, I wouldn't put it past him to actually accuse the U. S. military of dithering. And it must be lost on Durbin that President Karzai could easily justify making the same statement about the American government, as the American government, in the person of President Barack Obama, did dither for months on the Afghanistan decision.

The same article quotes Russ Feingold, democrat partisan hack from Wisconsin, as saying he and his allies will do whatever they can to prevent the Afghanistan surge, even to the point of blocking funds for the troops. Their strategy will include efforts to "...fight any attempts to use sort of accounting gimmicks to allow it (the Afghanistan surge) to be funded", and "...to oppose it... (as) also fiscally irresponsible." Feingold is also quoted as saying, "The idea of continuing to spend on this war flies in the face of the American people's priority to bring spending down.

Perhaps these are newly discovered traits for both, and they really don't know how to apply the principles that underly these ideas. Otherwise, Durbin's recent passion for good governance and decisiveness, and Feingold's new-found ardor for sound policy and fiscal restraint smacks of political opportunism and paints both of them as the rankest of a mob of rank hypocrites in Washington D.C. and in the democrat party as a whole.

It may seem redundant to do so, but I would like to offer the following list of recent democrat activities for the reader's consideration - Bush's fault, TARP, bank and insurance company seizures, US military as Nazis and terrorists, automotive manufacturing seizures, Bush's fault, tax cheats, socialists, tax increases, VATs and war surtaxes, communists and communist sympathizers, Maoists, ACORN, dithering, health care "reform", Bush's fault, talking with dictators without preconditions, racism, Honduras, Colombia, Afghanistan, timetables for withdrawal, 12 trillion dollar national debt, quadrupling the national budget deficit, cutting critical weapons systems and Bush's fault.

Anywhere else it would be considered a singular character flaw when someone tries to do the right thing for the wrong reason. Of course, since Durbin and Feingold are both career Washington insiders, I believe they know exactly what they're doing. They are pandering to their base, to their sycophants and acolytes in the state-run media by cloaking themselves in the mantle of good governance and fiscal restraint to advance a liberal/democrat/progressive agenda which has no use for either virtue.

Perhaps Durbin, Feingold and the rest of the democrat partisan hacks could benefit from the wisdom of Jesus Christ, found in the Book of Matthew chapter 7 verse 3, by ignoring the mote in someone else's eye and considering the beam in their own.

Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty, especially when liberty is under assault by partisan hacks, rank hypocrites and political opportunists.

Health Care Reform?

I just got an email from some Republican committee asking me to contribute to their “responsible” approach to health care reform, because “we need health care reform”. I have to ask “Why?”

This whole thing has been ginned up by the Leftist/Democrat establishment in Washington DC and their fellow-travelers among the Republicans. As long as Republicans and conservatives stay on the current “reform” band-wagon they give the Democrat party absolute control over the agenda.

There are any number of things the US Congress and the current administration should be focused on – Iranian and North Korean nuclear ambitions, the resurgent Russian hegemony in the former Soviet states in the Urals and the Caucasus regions, a strong national defense, security in Iraq and Afghanistan, following the law. Instead, the president and congress are pushing a radical progressive agenda the intent of which is government seizure of banking and insurance interests, a large portion of the domestic auto industry, energy and environmental policy in the guise of cap and trade – and now they’re ready to move on to health care “reform”.

Nobody has read the 1,018 page bill introduced in the US House of Representatives. Nobody has read the various pieces of the Senate bill, all of which just passed out of committee. Speaker Pelosi has said there won’t be time to allow the public time to analyze the House bill before it’s put to a final vote.

President Obama has denied that health care reform is a Trojan horse for single payer. It doesn’t matter what he calls it. To call this blatant government grab at another 20% of the US economy a Trojan horse is to insult the horse. They’re not trying to sneak this in! The House and Senate bills are a mishmash of employer mandates and penalties, regressive taxes and surtaxes, mandated coverage for individuals, privacy and health data management regulations, which will apply to everyone in America except for the President, Congress and labor unions. President Obama nor most members of Congress are empowered by their Constitutional office or equipped with the knowledge to make quality of life and health care decisions.Yet their plan is to impose a giant bureaucracy between the American people and their physicians.

We need a “reset” on domestic priorities. Republicans need to stop playing at all these reform proposals and start legislating on behalf of the people who sent them to Washington in the first place. No conservative Republican voter expects his or her legislator to kowtow to President Obama’s phony prestige and flowery rhetoric. If the Republican leadership were more concerned about their obligation to the country than they were currying favor with the Leftist/Democrat and state-run media establishment, there would be real resistance to the progressive agenda and a spirited defense of the values and principles embodied in the Constitution of the United States of America.

Elections have consequences. This administration and congress and their radical progressive allies are working around the clock to transform this country into a second-world, cradle-to-grave welfare state. Short of Divine intervention, the only other thing to stop them is a groundswell of informed and vocal opposition by you and me.

Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. Especially when our government so inexorably bound to special interests dedicated to rolling back two and a half centuries of American progress.