The Stench From The Bench Makes Me Clench!

Although this phrase is borrowed from Michael Savage, it is so appropriate where legislation is routinely blocked by a inferior court judge sought out specifically to do just that. There has also been an increase in little despots around the county doing damn well as they please even after hearing public input. There are recalls in the offing as a result.

A recent exchange about the insertion of "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance yielded this reader response in the April 9, 2004 issue of the Gualala, CA Independent Coast Observer. It illustrates the twisting of meaning and interpretation that is rampant in the current progressive or liberal movement to gain freedom from religion.

"Those who insist that the rest of us either acknowledge their deity or refrain from pledging allegiance to our flag are the ones who are attempting to impose their beliefs on others.

In our democracy, the majority do not always get to make the rules. If they did, whites and blacks might still be going to separate schools and sitting at opposite ends of the bus. Our Constitution is designed to prevent the majority from ramming its views down the throats of the minority. Say "Under God" all you want. Why must you insist that I say it too?"

This is typical of the double standard that this minority is placing on the rest of us. First, no one is insisting they say "Under God". This is a blatant attempt to push the "Freedom From God" movement forward a notch. Second, the legislative branch make the rules by majority vote and after much debate. This person is advocating anarchy or, as currently manifested, legislation from the bench. Whatever the issue, many useful items are hog-tied due to a judge in a remote location that sympathizes with the minority opposition and issues an injunction. This is lunacy.

The recent Gay Marriage debacle is a perfect example of a minority opinion running amok. This is what this misguided fellow is advocating.

In the old days, specifically the civil rights issues, were brought to the forefront by public protest and civil disobedience. Ultimately, the country, as a whole, saw the light and started taking steps to fix a very old injustice. The way the writer stated it, however, minority rule was what made it happen. NOTHING happens until an issue is considered, debated, and voted on until recently.

This warped view of how our country is run indicates a very poor understanding of our government and is letting his feelings govern his actions.

Why did I choose to pick on this particular fellow? This very minority rule making phenomenon seems to be circulating as the latest strategy in the progressive play book, just as the vitriolic personal attacks against President Bush were. I.E. another pattern of attack has developed.

One person can make a difference in this country, but that one person must build a supportive coalition to carry the idea forward to implementation. One person cannot expect instant gratification, as seems to be the growing trend at the moment by legislating from the judicial bench.

The Fence Sitters

I am amused by a group of self-proclaimed intellectuals, who consider themselves above and slightly detached from the fray of the current cultural war. This is mostly composed of centrists, center right, and libertarians. The progressives are pretty clear on where they stand...get George Bush out of office or they are leaving the country (As I've heard some say). Hmmm...a hidden incentive to assure George Bush gains reelection.

While I consider myself a conservative libertarian, having a discussion with a dyed-in-the-wool libertarian is enlightening at best and totally frustrating at worst. As far as I am concerned, libertarians, as a group, would do great in Siberia or Alaska with at least one mile between family groups. I subscribe strongly to the libertarian ideal of minimal government. I do not subscribe at all strongly to the distorted live-and-let-live mantra they govern their actions by. As long as you are not doing anything that would harm me, I won't bother you and I expect the same from you. Goodness, this is as utopian a view of human nature as you can get and does not take one ounce of consideration for the unintended consequences from the actions of persons or groups of persons that cannot be seen immediately. In short, they are bloody naive.

These are very strange times we live in. Every particular party or group has some extreme view of the future and the moderates or centrists have no clue what to do but to be seduced into following one of these radical groups, be they left, right, up, or down.

30-40-30

30%, 40%, 30%

This is a very unscientific representation of the current cultural war and the percentage of combatants in three significant areas. Both 30%'s represent very, very different world views. The 40% represents the battlefield of ideas with the spun, the sheeple, the uninvolved, the too-busy ones. What about that "silent majority" we heard about in the '80's and 90's? I don't know. I do know that this "40%" now has unprecidented power to shape the future of our country...in fact, the future of the world. Unfortunately, they are mostly disenfranchised, either by battle fatigue or ignorance.

Now is the time to make a choice for:

The good feelings group

or

The logical and grounded group

There is no middle ground anymore.

Forbidden Words

Most of us had heard of George Carlin's Seven Forbidden Words (not necessarily the words themselves), although they don't seem so forbidden in the media these days. When I was trying to look up the reference to such matters, I was surprised at the number of web sites that talked about "forbidden words". Usually, my forbidden words are the trite words of the year or month. The word "scenario" nearly drove me nuts in the early seventies. The word of today is "space" to describe a marketing segment or any particular grouping with common elements. Every year we are faced with a new fashionable word or phrase that all the up and comers use with reckless abandon.

Friends, there is a much more insidious group of words, however, that is undermining our civilization, and I would respectfully request that they be taken out of the daily lexicon for a period of no less than five years. This is a preliminary list and subject to revision and suggestion (with their brief equivalents):

ACLU = A Catastrophic Legal Undermining
ADD = Another Dumb Disease and generator of pharmaceutical revenue and doctor fees
ADD (2) = Adult Discipline Deficiency
affirmative action = lower standards, quotas, discrimination, racism...oops
compassion = wealth redistribution or ideas crammed down my throat
diversity = quotas, victimization, racism...oops again
fairness = let the minority call the shots
GMO = Inadequately tested genetically modified organism foisted into our food supply
inclusive = lower standards
International A.N.S.W.E.R. = Accumulation of Nonsensical Scum Which Evades Reason, aka neo-communists
MoveOn.org = Don't we wish they would?
racist or racism = prejudice at worst, high standards at best
self-esteem = emphasis on feelings rather than personal growth
social justice = balance the scales to my world view or I take that which is not mine to take
starvation = wealth redistribution with no reduction of starvation
termination = uninformed choice supporting multibillion dollar industry
tolerance = tolerate everything in line with my world view
undocumented worker = illegal alien
UN = UnNatural way to resolve international conflict

Religion is the opium of the masses...

Karl Marx would roll over in his grave if he knew his theories, which are supported by the radical left, would yield the a revised version of this slogan to be: Liberalism is the opium of the masses...

I think Lenin already knew that when he described Western communist apologist leftists as "useful idiots".

I just had an epiphany of sorts a few minutes ago on how all this is tied together. For you Baby Boomers with specks of gray in your hair, remember the saying, "If it feels good, do it?"

Connect the dots...opium...good feeling...do what ever your heart desires...

I made a decision about a month ago to avoid association with anyone even close to the radical left's mindset. Frankly, it is not very intellectually stimulating. To talk to them is like talking to a tape recorder. They all say the same thing. There is no other truth except their truth and they, at all costs must maintain their loving and compassionate stupor AND most importantly, hate Bush.

As Mr. Stossel would say, "GIVE ME A BREAK!"