Who will Lend?
1) We are going to spend over $3.5 trillion next year, run up an annual debt of $1.7 trillion, and are on schedule to add another $9 trillion to reach an aggregate debt of $20 trillion in eight years. The Obama administration and the Congress spend days on end fighting over how to spread and spend the borrowed money. But still, no one ties the additional expenditures to additional revenues. Can the President say, “We will borrow $.6 trillion from the Chinese, $.4 from the Japanese, $.2 trillion from the Europeans, and $.5 from American bond holders” in order finance this year’s budget”? Will someone simply give us a blueprint of where and how the $1.7 trillion is to be raised— x amount of loans for each new y federal agency?
Waterboarding or No Brains?
2) I’ve raised this example twice now. But, really, how is waterboarding a known detained terrorist like Khalid Sheik Mohammed (who confessed to cutting off Daniel Pearl’s head [with two knives after the first went dull], and to planning the 9/11 mass murder) at Guantanamo considered a war crime, while blowing up with a Predator drone suspected terrorists (and all those, including women and children, in their general vicinity) not?
The latter victims were not given habeas corpus, and Miranda rights, and there is a greater doubt about their guilt from 10,000 feet than is the case with the much studied psychopath KSM in Guantanamo. Most suspects would prefer to be water-boarded than vaporized? Ditto the Somali pirates, whose heads were blown off during their apparent attempts at negotiating extortion, again a bit more drastic than waterboarding. Would a future President Sanford or Giuliani be right to bring charges against those in the Obama administration who green lighted assassinations of suspected terrorists—something akin to the Phoenix program in Vietnam?
All About Abortion and Affirmative Action
3.) Given the fact that Barack Obama voted against both Justices Alito and Roberts, (and wanted to filibuster Alito) would he object should Republicans en masse simply say no to his new liberal Supreme Court judicial nominee? As I recall Obama’s comments, he simply confessed two things: one, the two nominees were qualified; two, their politics made them too unsympathetic to his own political agenda, so they should be rejected.
Remember Obama’s assessment of Alito that had nothing to do with the law and everything to do with politics (“He’s a smart guy, there’s no indication that he is not a man of good character. But, when you look at his record, what is clear is that when it comes to his understanding of the Constitution, he consistently sides on behalf of the powerful against the powerless.”), and Roberts (“In those 5 percent of hard cases, the constitutional text will not be directly on point. The language of the statute will not be perfectly clear. Legal process alone will not lead you to a rule of decision. In those circumstances, your decisions about whether affirmative action is an appropriate response to the history of discrimination in this country or whether a general right of privacy encompasses a more specific right of women to control their reproductive decisions or whether the commerce clause empowers Congress to speak on those issues of broad national concern that may be only tangentially related to what is easily defined as interstate commerce, whether a person who is disabled has the right to be accommodated so they can work alongside those who are nondisabled — in those difficult cases, the critical ingredient is supplied by what is in the judge’s heart.”)
War, No War, Sorta War?
As a fellow farmer, thank you for keeping the candle of common sense lit.
This is clearly not a particularly optimistic or cheery weblog post.
Emphatic NO! Dr. Hansen. Those of us who didn’t vote for this have not gone away- we’re hunkering down and surviving.
The rest of our nation is simply trying the Obama experiment on for size.
When the results come in and the size doesn’t fit we’ll turn the ship of state.
As always, your thoughts are greatly appreciated.
The only way out of stagflation will likely be invention or innovation, as in the past. But Obama is playing for time, himself just hoping for someone with audacity and some imagination.
Victor you are right in my humble opinion about all of our spending to bail out these Banks and Insurance companies but of course this is just Barack following the master George’s lead.
You are also correct to say that waterboarding isn’t worst than killing innocent men, women and children from predators at 10,000 feet (how many wedding parties have we vaporized with these birds of prey?). But again just following in the master’s foot steps.
Abortion and affirmative action is politics in this country. Some of us are for it some of us are against it. But the people have voted and we are stuck with it for as long as they have the votes (with Barack’s win I wouldn’t worry too much about old time affirmative action).
As for Barack not knowing what he is doing I hate to repeat myself but I’m not sure George knew what he was doing in the beginning either(no WMDs, we will be welcomed with flowers and the Iraqis will pay for everything etc…)
So if you are right and I see no reason you are wrong (except for the points I have mentioned) this should be the beginning of the coming revival of the GOP.
To the last point: Reagan was able to repair the damage Carter did, and some of what LBJ (and Nixon) did, without inflicting much new pain. Unless a GOP successor has a tremendous congressional majority, it will be very hard to undo all the damage, especially since the various giveaways will have loud constituencies. For it all to work, the vast majority of Americans will have to be sick–not cordially sick, but viscerally sick–of what has happened to the USA.
This may yet happen, especially if more criminal and should-be-criminal behavior among the Democrat politicians comes to light.
Glenn Reynolds ran an Instapundit entry linking to an article in Mother Jones magazine which calls for action on Murtha’s porking. When Mother Jones takes a conservative stance the tectonic plates are moving! (Of course, the target project was a military base, not any of his other projects, but, hey, you hit the right flank and we’ll hit the left flank.)
Who will be blamed? Oh, we’ll still be blamed, there will always be shadowy groups with murky ties to each other, holdouts, remnants of past failed ideologies(conservatives), that will be blamed for the failure to reach that socialist utopia that is always just right around the corner.
VDH:
“So we end with a whimper, after all?”
It will end — this overwrought premature push for a socialistic America — with a cacophony of howling and screeching: “Where’s my handout?” That’ll be the epitaph for the 30% of the younger generation who believe they are owed a free lunch. When mommy & daddy’s money dries up, they will be mouthing their slogans to a bankrupt government in hopes of being fed. Let them eat “cake”, euphemism for sh*t, and….go away for ever.
The backlash you mention has already started. Family members who voted for Obama are nonplussed, both by his actions at home and abroad. Pakistan crumbles, Iran and Israel are locked in a death spiral and Obama fritters away valuable time shoving his domestic agenda down our throats. He truly believes the barbarians at the gates are his friends, that they will be mollified — like his acolytes here — by slogans and apologias. That is, by whimpering. Good luck with that. The only whimpering at the end will be from Team Obama.
Want to hear real torture? Listen to Melissa’s 911 call as she is burned alive on the 83rd floor of the WTC. This is torture.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57YTh5z6aHA
I think we already know what the world will be like when America withdraws both on the economic and miltary fronts. The first half of the twentieth century was a pretty good illustrattion.
Dr. Hanson,
Unfortunately I share your pessimism. The incessant attacks on our country’s Constitution and common sense make it apparent, to me at least, that George Soros and his minions had an enormous amount of this in place and ready to go. Incompetence couldn’t possibly explain all this, and I don’t think 0bama is smart enough.
I’m pleased, in an awful way, to see that this disaster has brought many Americans wide awake to the danger of Leftism, and can only hope we are seeing its death throes. Please keep writing and speaking, and illegitimi non carborundum.
I think I have seen the future:I traveled to Argentina in the 60s and 70s, and the next two decades will be good for people who are connected, and who have access to ‘real’ money out of reach of the authorities. Back then, that was in dollars, in the US, Canada or Europe. It will be a rotten deal for people who actually produce things, and try to obey the law.
Once we lose our civic morality, we may not get it back. Then, it will become bad for every one. Think Russia, or S Africa: failing systems, shrinking populations of educated people, increasing crime and chaos.
Dr. Hanson:
We may be fortunate to end with merely a whimper. In all of my years of watching American politics, I’ve been comforted by two facts: No matter how foolish a democrat policy, proposed or adopted, none had the actual potential to bankrupt the country or to drive us into the kind of destructive financial situation that would actually result in financial ruin or the deaths of American citizens. And none of said policies had the very real potential to actually encourage mass casualty attacks on American soil or to essentially end America’s role as the sole world power standing for good against evil.
We now find ourselves in a world where all of those horrific possibilities might well come to pass, and with a president and congress seemingly hell-bent on America’s dissolution, if not its destruction. Think of the insanity of only the past week:
(1) A grossly overblown flu response, that out of hand rejected one of the most potentially effective methods of containment: closing the border with the nation responsible for the epidemic.
(2) The vice President’s brainless comments exacerbating the situation.
(3) The likely leaked outing of psychologists responsible for our success in interrogations, including the publishing of their names, photographs and homes.
(4) Obama’s denigration of companies trying only to uphold the law in the auto bankruptcies to do their duties to their customers and to uphold lawful contracts so he can reward the UAW.
(5) Obama’s royal annoyance and weak assurance that Pakistan’s nucs are and will remain safe.
(6) AG Holder’s suggestion that the government will assist Spain (and other governments) in prosecuting American citizens in their courts–should this come to pass, American sovereignty will be no more.
(7) AG Holder’s statements about prosecuting Bush Administration officials for keeping Americans safe and Obama’s support for same.
(8) Obama’s belief that supreme court justices must decide cases on what is fair, on potential consequences for favored victim groups, rather than on the Constitution and the law…
Of course, I could go on and on, but recall that these are the fruits of only one week. I fear we cannot survive many more weeks like this.
As to his spending policies, I agree it is a race on his and the congress to implement before the people wake up. Some say at the tea parties that we’ve only just begun. Hopefully, but I worry that congress still hasn’t gotten the message nor has this administration. On President Obama’s 100th day town hall meeting there were protesters outside as if it was a tea party; Inside he ridiculed those waving tea bags. Good for those outside; we need that every time he speaks. And those in congress who are spending our country into financial ruination, we can find out who easily via web sites, well, they need to have their local offices picketed in the manner that MLK showed was so effective with sit-ins if necessary.
Our elected officials act as if they are our betters. Note that TARP had some 70% of those polled against what has now reportedly become a criminal enterprise for many recipients, yet it passed and other such bailouts have been approved. It is not only that we have just begun, it is time we took direct action.
We see the reports that the increased spending is continuing, therefore we can not wait 18 month until the next election to take direct action. Who will join me in pressuring the 912ers, the Nationwide Tea Party Coalition, the Campaign for Liberty and other grass roots organizations to begin this direct action campaign to pick up where the tea parties left off. I have proposed this at such meetings, but I seemly remain a lone voice in the wilderness as I have been for the past 40 years when writing to public officials and more recently commenting and blogging on these horrible public spending policies. So be it, but this old guy will do this on his own if no one else is willing.
The Greatest Generation saved our nation from fascism, therefore we owe future generations a serious effort to return to the economic and personal freedom they fought so bravely to retain.
Answering your final thought: After suffering from a period inertia and earned self-loathing, perhaps we will all arise to the call of a new, nationalistic “Leader” who promises us pride, power, and deliverance from weakness, not to mention global ascendency, a restoration of old glory, and a beating back of the ever dominating Islamic and “diverse” hordes.
A nasty irony that Obama’s humanistic pretensions could lead to the above.
“The rest of our nation is simply trying the Obama experiment on for size.”
Yes, with trillions of OUR DOLLARS.
But would we end?
What if there was some sort of transformation?
Who knows? Weird things sure have happened, here on this Earth.
http://www.metagovernment.org/wiki/Main_Page
http://wikademia.org/Wikicracy
Dr. Hanson
Re: Predators and “torture”
You can find plenty of law students and lawyers at The Volokh Conspiracy who are happy to conclude that the waterboarding of KSM should lead to prosecution of Bush administration lawyers, while the predator strikes are… well.. they ignore them. For example, this thread.
You can also learn that we should release KSM because no court or military tribunal could convict him.
Or elites are truly brainwashed.
“Or” should have been “Our”
Very, VERY good question, professor, about the US borrowing, and who will lend at that level. No one could look at the overall situation — the world as a whole, its politics and demographics, who and what the other rich nations are, the trend of national policy in the US, our population, etc — no one could look at all these things and be optimistic about America being able to service Obama-level debt.
The US national debt Obama proposes to take on is not a good risk for lenders. As numerous commentators point out, teenagers like my nephews and nieces will be in debt to the tune of the average mortgage by the time they’re 18, based on the debt Obama proposes to take us into. The survivability of our very polity, government, way of life, and national integrity will be threatened. Who will be optimistic and hard-working, determined to preserve the “blessings” of liberty for himself and his posterity, under such conditions?
We ought to be very suspicious of the motives of anyone who would lend to the US federal governmnent under these conditions.
Conservatives have also got to act as a visible political opposition. If we have to, demonstrate in the hundreds of thousands on the Mall in DC, and outside our Senators’ and representatives’ offices across the nation, against each threat to our way of life, starting with fully nationalized health care (as opposed to the partially-socialized hybrid we have now). This is a first amendment right the conservative, working middle class seldom exercises. But if we want to keep a republic that has some hope of being reduced in interventionist fervor, without an abrupt and destabilizing political break, we had better consider it, and soon.
The difference between KSM and, eg, the Somali pirates, is that in the KSM case the interrogators are in total control of the situation. In the latter case, and equivalent cases, they are not, and there is therefore a higher moral standard to be applied in the fomer. KSM poses no present or (at least theoretically) future danger to the actors in the situation. Somali pirates or terrorists in the Hindu Kush are different; the actions may lead to worse outcomes, and are inherently risky. Part of the moral problem is that the torturer has nothing at stake; it’s also of dubious effectiveness and it systemically corrupts the military.
None of the above means that there aren’t exceptional situations where torture might be “justified”, but hard cases make bad law, and clearly there was some systematic law-breaking going on, from the highest levels of government all the way down.
(I agree with most of what you write BTW, I just think that torture – and I would include waterboarding – is reprehensible and a stain upon the honour of the West.)
“So we end with a whimper, after all?”
No, we end with one hundred million cries of “Gimme more!” from those who suck from a teat of government and another one hundred million cries of “More teats!” from those who don’t. The few who say “Kill the fat sow!” will be unheard in the din.
With so much happening in this country it seems that so few days cannot really end our independence and security, but I believe that when we think things could get so much better while allowing ourselves to think that someone else will always give it to us we have lost the power that we once had.
That’s something very troubling about all of this. The illusion that the country can do so much, which it does. Which illusion allows us to think that anything is possible and should be possible. We do not think that you can do great things if you work at it, but that great things come with no worries. I think the whole history of mankind proves that wrong, with its whole history of sorrow for so many past peoples.
Why believe that Obama has all the answers just because there is hardly anyone else with any answers?
sorry, the illusion that the country can do impossible things while forgetting what it took to get what we have, all because we have so much right now. Wrote a bad sentence in there.
Dr. Hanson, I share your frustration, and fears. It’s effective when you enumerate the issues like that. (as did #13 Mike-gd.) We have to, to keep our heads. It’s mind-numbing.
It’s clearly a race for them, a race to overwhelm–with outrageous and unconscionable acts, lies and reversals, to where we’re numbed to their next brash nation-destroying deed. Basically, he’s so above accountability things don’t have to make sense anymore and you’re simply outright wrong to challenge him–for any reason. Very scary scenario.
Just the staggering amount of campaign and post-campaign “promises” that were either not fulfilled or outright broken should be cause for outrage, not just serious alarm–never mind; (here’s my short list, how I see it.)
–trashing of the economy–nothing bettered or encouraged (deliberate)
–his crooked activist and conflict of interest-laden appointees
–outright nationalization of banks and industry
–his not just apology tour but badmouth America and make friends with enemies and offend our friends tour while aggrandizing himself (by the way, his very confessed separateness tells me he’s one of us Americans–certainly in spirit)
–his attacks on private citizens and whipped up public furor against private business individuals
–his outright disdain and ensuing attacks on capitalism and private ownership
–his lightning fast undermining of our national security
–his complete reversal of who the good guys and bad guys are–”Americans bad people–military BAD!–poor oppressed Taliban, misunderstood Castro and Chavez and Ahmadenijad–hmmmmmm-maybe not so bad after all, maybe even good??!!!!)
(etc. etc.)
And his answer to criticism or opposition? He simply brands the Republicans as the party of “no”–all while bragging of his bi-partisanship. Done, with a wave of his smooth hand. Cool aid anyone?
Remember “let’s spread the wealth around”? One little phrase that sparked an uproar. What’s happened since then? Now they’re polling Americans on how many want Socialism!! Snowjob 10–Outrage–O.
Underlying Message conveyed by media: “Oh, he must have a good reason. Besides, he’s new at this, but he’s a very nice, well spoken man so let’s give him time. Surely if things were as wrong as some of these right wing whack jobs say they are, surely someone would be saying something.” zzzzzzzzzzz
The line’s drawn–and he likes it that way. You’re for him, or against him. They like to polarize so they can identify “the enemy” and then sway public opinion accordingly (Garafalo-”it’s racism, straight up”), using that to assert more control. I’ve lived in martial law situations abroad, I know how this develops. As with all despot ideologues they ultimately resort to greater and greater strong arm tactics to subdue and get their way. Democracy, freedom, capitalism–they’re all a pain in the butt to them. “And that constitution thingy, that has got to go! That’ll fix those bitter clingers once and for all!”
God help us.
It will end like all the Workers and National socialist experiments of the 20th Century ended: with a gigantic war.
War is the only way out of failed economic utopias.
War takes the minds of the people off their problems, gives an excuse for privation and rationing, provides people a great cause, then destroys people and property.
It zeroes everything out so whoever’s left can start over.
FDR sent 400,000 American servicemen to their deaths and prosecuted a war that killed 50,000,000 worldwide. He has a four-lobed memorial on the National Mall–a lobe for each of his four administrations.
Surely the silver-tongued Obama can match that.
So we end with a whimper, after all?
Good question–I don’t think so. I agree with TLM above, the whimpering is more likely to be from Team Obama.
BHO is in a race to get as much of his agenda implemented before the 2010 elections. The Republicans will make gains and it will be harder for someone with 53% of the vote to act as if he has a mandate.
The TEA parties seem to have gotten under his (thin)skin and I suspect he does not like that groups can get out messages of opposition without having to depend on his fan club (MSM) and these groups are community based–and at some point will it be TEA vs. ACORN?
Since we are all pretty aware of what it will take to challenge the secrecy over his birth certificate, is there one Republican anywhere who will run on the promise that when they get to DC they will do this? If so, I’m good for some coin and some time on the phones.
IMPORTANT CORRECTION to comment 21–pt. (—) 4 above–
he’s NOT one of us Americans, certainly in spirit
full point:
–his not just apology tour but badmouth America and make friends with enemies and offend our friends tour while aggrandizing himself (by the way, his very confessed separateness tells me he’s NOT one of us Americans–certainly in spirit)
(sorry for any confusion-but that one was important-D)
“But, when you look at his record, what is clear is that when it comes to his understanding of the Constitution, he consistently sides on behalf of the powerful against the powerless.”)
Never mind that “equal protection” thingie.
Never mind that the law is supposed to be applied uniformly no matter what one’s circumstances.
No, Obama wants laws with sliding scales of rightness and wrongness, each judgement taken from within its own context.
Nevermind that it’s pure chaos.
More and more, in his rush to get his Marxist program in place and wreck the US economy, Obama reminds me of Salvador Allende in Chile.
J.E. Dyer wrote, “We ought to be very suspicious of the motives of anyone who would lend to the US federal governmnent under these conditions.”
A truly insightful statement. The motives for increasing US indebtedness must be examined both by the Democratic majority and by foreign countries.
The need to acquire votes for the Democrats is best served by increasing the number of those who are beholden to the government for their livelihood.
More sinister is the willingness of foreign powers to lend to America. The calculus involves weighing making America obligated to repay principle that can never be met vs the risk of losing the principle in a financial catastrophe that would emasculate America for the forseeable future. China is smart enough and rich enough to make that calculation – profiting in different ways no matter the outcome. So is Japan.
The Arabs would be wise to be more circumspect about reducing American power to respond to crises with Iran and al Qedda in the wings. Indeed, many regimes are praying for the strength of Israel to respond to Iran, so Obama’s attempt to weaken Israel will be seen as a threat to vulnerable Arabs.
Mr. Hanson,
What I am beginning to fear most is that Obama will come to realize that with the press running interference for him, praising all and protecting him against criticism, that he will start to believe his own press and we will be heading towards a little dictator. Hyperbola, maybe a little but we need a critical press not cheerleaders.
Every once in a while the mask slips and his authoritarian, bullying side shows up and it’s frightening. I doubt that you could have missed this but he is quite the peacock.
Mike
Aptos Ca.
Need proof Obama is a traitor to the Constitution and his Oath of Office? This oughta do;
http://www.thefederalregister.com/d.p/2009-02-04-E9-2488
At least the left knows what it wants and has the courage of its convictions and is not afraid to act on them. They think that the destruction of our constitutional liberties and national sovereignty is a good thing. Everyone knew who Obama was when he was elected. I can’t remember when a presidential candidate from a major party was so open in saying what he believed and intended to do and he still got elected.
What can we say about the so-called conservatives that had six years to get this country on a firm sound constitutional basis and, like Esau, sold out for a meal or in their case, for millions of lobbyist dollars?
What can we say about a voting public that continues to vote in the same old members of Congress year after year, both Democrats and Republicans, despite the fact that they betray the trust given to them year after year?
Yes, it may be too late. The scales of dependency may be tipped too far in the wrong direction. The results of the 2010 elections will tell us a lot about the future of this nation. What needs to happen is that every member of the House of Representatives needs to be turned out regardless of party affiliation. That would send a message to the political class. I’m not holding my breath.
’Tis easy to see that Rear-Colonel V. D. H. Blimp must have been hatched in some excruciatin’ly select nest of gentry.
A more down-to-earth Big Management Party neocomrade (like, say, the late Señorito L. Atwater) would worry first and foremost — or perhaps last and bottomlinewise — how it is that Televisionland and the electorate mostly fail to notice all these abominations that are so very plain to denizens of Hooverville and Wingnut City and Rio Limbaugh.
And Pajamastán.
Happy days.
I have no intention of living to see the day we arent free. The sounds of my demise , if it should come to it , wont be a whimper, I can guarentee ya that!!
In times of crisis…what is to be done with the looters?
Come, now. That’s too obvious. With out the Great Satan, well, figure it out.
” Would a future President Sanford or Giuliani be right to bring charges against those in the Obama administration who green lighted assassinations of suspected terrorists—something akin to the Phoenix program in Vietnam?”
yep
and we will
President Obama also wants to end the Stock Market by hurting it with his plans since the Stock Market is out of his control; however, I think even the Stock Market is too big for Obama’s mania. The backlash has begun & the tide will only grow stronger with Obama’s oppressive Socialist ideas.
Mike2, you’re wrong. The Left does know what it wants, but it does so in stealth; hence, the need to rush legislation in the first year. Obama & the Democrats the popularity will burst.
Examples of stealth: the “stimulus,” Obama’s budget, Health Care “reform,” etc al…
You forgot the questions:
Which American city will suffer a catastrophic “man caused disaster” ?
And: When will our national bankruptcy occur, and what will be the results ?
And: When will Americans learn of our real debt ?
“Treasury projected an estimated present value of future social insurance program expenditures for all current and future program participants to be $43 trillion. Over the next two decades, Social Security and Medicare expenditures are projected to increase from their current 8 percent of GDP to about 11 percent. Without reform, the cost of these programs is projected to approach 18 percent of GDP by 2080. Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security accounted for 16 percent of total government expenditures 40 years ago. Today, they comprise 40 percent of all expenditures.”
http://www.fms.treas.gov/fr/08frusg/08frusg.pdf
31, Cato:
I pray to Almighty God: May your prophecy be proven so.
Thank You, Dear Lord – Amen.
Brian Richard Allen
Los Angeles CalifO’ZEROcated 90028
And the Far Abroad
Your last observation is the one which has most troubled me since President Mugabe took over in January, i.e., once he’s finished destroying the United States, who will save the rest of the world from itself? Throughout the 20th century Europe could afford to engage in deadly and foolish experiments in various forms of socialism and fascism because America was willing and able to pull their chestnuts out of the fire. If we become just as bankrupt and corrupt as them, we won’t event be able to save ourselves. American exceptionalism has been vastly underappreciated. By the way, I like your allusion to Oceania; it sure seems like we’ve entered the era of doublespeak.
I will be damned if I will let the 400 plus years of hopes and dreams and sacrifices of all of the settlers who came to America starting in the 1600’s, and who died here in their unknown tens and hundreds of thousands, the men and women who, usually with little comfort or help, pioneered, built and created our Nation in the vast and hostile wilderness, who constructed and cemented the foundation of our country with their blood and bone, and the labors of men of integrity, learning, wisdom and foresight like Washington, Adams, Hamilton, Paine, Jefferson and Franklin who struggled, fought for and gained our Independence, and created the Constitution and the United States of America, and all those generations of Americans who came after them, to be pissed away, without a fight, and let America become just another failed Socialist state or dictatorship, one soon to be discarded in the trashcan of History.
I believe that with the ascension of Barack Hussain Obama to the Presidency, coupled with the Democratic Party’s effective control of both the House and Senate, the United States of America is in greater danger of being irrevocably, fundamentally changed for the worse or even destroyed than ever before in it’s history; and, as we have seen, Obama and the Democrats do intend to quickly and radically change it; into a Socialist state? and/or into a Tyranny? or into a Fascist state? It is not yet clear which one it is or, whether it is bits and pieces taken from each alternative or, perhaps, it is all of them together.
It is clear that the Federal Government, which initially served to unite and strengthen our new country has, over the centuries since our Independence, insinuated itself into every on of our States and into every aspect of our lives, become increasingly dictatorial, bloated and corrupt, and an obstacle and danger to each citizen’s freedom; a greedy vampire which daily sucks out and consumes an ever increasing portion of the life blood out of each of it’s citizens and our economy, stifles innovation, and seeks increasingly to take our rights and our freedoms away, and to circumscribe and direct our every move; a government which views the wealth that we create by our labors as it’s wealth, to seize by taxation and use as it’s superior wisdom directs, ostensibly to benefit us and “for our own good.”
Our Founding Fathers carefully crafted a limited government, constrained by checks and balances—Obama & Co and the Democratically controlled Congress seek to finally, decisively and forever break those checks and balances that have been eroded and weakened over the centuries, so that Obama & Co. can do whatever they please, when they please, and the Republicans–supposedly their adversaries–help in this effort, or stand idly by and watch. Ours was to be a free, supple, capitalist economy, Obama & Co. seek to make it a straitjacketed, government owned and controlled economy; a “command economy,” with Obama & Co. and the Democrats doing the commanding.
While limited government and capitalism gave the most room for individual freedom, creativity, invention, accomplishment, and the ownership of private property and accumulation of wealth, the all powerful and intrusive government Obama is busily expanding will increasingly limit freedom and mandate the accomplishment of equal outcomes in the name of “social justice,” seize and transfer wealth from those productive citizens it determines and will paint as somehow “unworthy,” and keep that seized wealth to pay for its expansion and to give to the “deserving” poor who, increasingly, will be relived of having to work. All animals will be “equal” except, of course, as in Orwell’s “Animal Farm,” some animals i.e. the Left, the new “nomenklatura,” designated “victim groups” and Democratic donors, supporters and constituencies will be more equal than others.
From the beginning of the United States freedom of speech and freedom of the press were supposed to be the cornerstones and guarantors of our Independence and Freedom, but now the left has bought and paid for the MSM and the Academy, and with their help Obama & Co. want to throttle that free speech, and use the MSM, the primarily Left wing intelligentsia, and the organs of the government to label anyone who does not want to “get with the program,” anyone who disagrees with Obama & Co as a “right wing extremist,” a “suspect,” to be derided and dismissed and soon, I predict, to be harassed and persecuted by the government.
Our legal system, the lawyers, judges and courts, and especially the U.S. Supreme Court, other supposed guarantors of capitalism, individual freedom, our liberties and our rights, have increasingly been reinterpreting our Constitution in an orgy of “judicial activism,” legislating from the bench, creating new rights where none exist, and issuing an ever increasing mountain of new decisions to enforce and expand those rights; they have created a constantly proliferating, entangling web of decisions, rulings and regulations that hamper and trap us, that diminish our liberty, constricts and narrows our freedoms, and our ability to act independently and as we wish, and hastens our slide toward dictatorial, omnipresent government, Socialism and Tyranny.
The time has come, as it did at our very inception as a Nation, to “Unite of Die”; we must craft a set of principles around which an Opposition, drawn from as much of the political spectrum as possible, can unite. Those of us who see what is happening and want to prevent it must identify a few core principles that will inform and direct our efforts toward the essential steps we must take in order to assure the survival of our freedoms, our liberty and the United States.
I believe some of those key principles should be states rights, attaining a severely limited federal government with a drastically curtailed ability to tax and spend, maximum individual freedom, strict construction of the Constitution by our Courts, strong checks and balances, and a legislature composed of citizens who serve for limited terms, and not of professional politicians.
I can only conclude money is going out of fashion. Governments around the world are spending it as if it is.
Obama and Gordon Brown are both talking of employing people to shovel money into a fiery pit and now I hear Sarkozy wants, as the legacy of his Presidency, to turn the centre of Paris into something rivalling the glory of ancient Rome, Athens and Jerusalem.
It must be a vanilty project and seems rather superfluous. Paris already has many beautiful buildings, green spaces and the sewers are the equal of any in the ancient world.
The comments made at the Volokh Conspiracy by law students and lawyers about prosecuting Bush Administration officials for waterboarding show who brain dead a portion of the legal world is. The Volokh Conspiracy has relatively more conservative commentators, but invariably the posters reflect what I consider to be the stupidity of the Legal Left in the country. And they all think that they are being smart. Not.
Why are the super rich like Buffett, Grove, Gates, etc all so supportive of Obama and company? I saw a report with Buffett where he said Obama was doing the right things for the economy – to his shareholders. This does not match up with common sense or reality. What do the super rich expect to get from this?
We talk about Obama, Obama, Obama. But what if it’s really Soros, Soros, Soros? Remember September 17th, 18th… 2008!
Obama learned from the Annenberg Challenge that the more people on the payroll, the more power. That’s why he rushes to give away money.
If his buddies at Acorn beef up the census and fight liken Franken, we may have 8 years of his anti-Americanism.
In the meantime, who are those guys that watch Keith Olberman? I fear for our future if we can’t wean all those otherwise decent people away from ABC, CBS, NPR…etc.
the Left will do anything they can to keep from losing power.
There will never be free and fair elections ever again if they can help it. There is no depth to which they will not sink. They are ruthless. They are aligned with ruthless dictators and will will flood this country with foreigners from anti-american countries who will either vote for the Left, or who will kill us in the streets – neither of these actions are alien to the rest of the world like they are to Americans. They live with violence & corruption that we cannot imagine, and they have for decades. They know no other way, and would love to just give it to us.
The longer we wait to start the “backlash”, the harder, BLOODIER it will be and the longer it will take.
WAKE UP. We will not have the rights in the future that we have today. You can count on it. WE’D BETTER START SERIOUSLY FIGHTING THIS TYRANNY NOW.
49. john:
“What do the super rich expect to get from this?”
Power. The super wealthy have already benefited from tax breaks from the previous administration or outright tax evasion, so, they aren’t going to be harmed by any new taxes so long as they know where to keep their money [namely, foreign banks]. Then you have the new ‘GREEN’ businesses that will crop up and make buko profits with the 0bama admin helping to foster them. But, that is pure speculation on my part.
The ginormous sh*t sandwich the Zero admin is serving up on a platter of lies, race-baiting, communism, class-warfare, MSM pandering and gallows giggles is enough to make one’s head spin. Get a bucket for the pea soup vomit!
The USA needs a young priest and an old priest. Stat!
#49 John, one of the reasons why Buffett supports this president is because his policies will benefit Buffett. Buffet has bought more than a few companies over the years when the estate tax forced these family-owned companies into liquidation and Buffett paid very little for them for what they were worth at the time.
Dairy Queen is one that I remember that was brought up as to how Buffett operates in this regard.
Hopefully, someone will make a list up of all the family-owned businesses that were forced into liquidation by the estate tax – how much they were worth at the time they were sold, what the taxes were on them, how many employees they had, and what was paid for them and by whom. It would be interesting to go through Buffett’s portfolio on this one and to bring it up whenever he makes one of his pronouncements on how Obama is handling the economy.
ANTI-WAR CANDIDATE OBAMA LIVES UP TO BILLING
Doctrine comes first, national security somewhere thereafter.
http://greensrealworld.blogspot.com/2009/05/iraq-obama-takes-his-eye-off-ball.html
Dr Hanson,
As a classical scholar, you’re spent years studying the decline and fall of civilizations. In one sense, you remind me of an interview I saw with some British military historians in the early 1980s. One of them made the point that when the Falklands Islands were seized, all the historians could do was focus on the problems of logistics, command and control, and the like. In the meantime, the military professionals focused on addressing the problems in order to win the war.
While knowledge of history is important, we must not let that knowledge overwhelm us from striving for solutions to the messes Obama is making. This too will pass, and when it does, we need to be ready to act and lead. It won’t be easy. Obama is following the same economic policies that made Zimbabwe the international economic powerhouse it is today. I keep hearing how intelligent he is but the evidence is lacking.
You are fond of saying “he must know”, when talking about the downstream results of Obama’s actions and policies, but I think this is quite doubtful. This is a man of mediocre intellect at best, whose many spontaneous, un-teleprompted comments have shown he is quite ignorant of US and world history and foreign affairs, and even of how average Americans live and feel. He has not a single guiding principle except the promotion of his career, which mostly means pleasing his supporters and donors. I fear very much we are going to be attacked again as the world’s bad actors infer from his words and deeds that he really doesn’t have as his first priority the defense of the U.S.
The President has an agenda. His “apologies” during his most recent tour de force of Europe and the Mid East were intended to accentuate the divide in this country between those who want responsible government and pay taxes; and those who don’t. His agenda is the same with respect to use of “stimulus” money. Creditors are being “stiffed.” Unions concede little. Those who don’t pay income taxes will receive “tax rebates” despite the fact they have paid no income taxes. The intended result: they become more dependent on the Federal Government and are expected to vote for whomever promises them more. This in itself is a dangerous game. The one who promises the most will win no matter how irresponsible he is.
The Obama Experiment = true comedy. There are still so many unanswered questions about Obama that it is truely not funny anymore. His rush to nationalise both the banking industry and the Car makers is truely alarming and if bondholders or bank exec’s balk at his pathetic deals they are threatened by the use of the white house press core or told they are not allowed to repay their debts.
I do not ignore the somewhat fiscal irresponsibility of the Bush administration but what Obama has done and intends to set in place is downright criminal fiscal behavior. I could go on about his non-existant foreign policy or defense matters but alas I simply don’t have the patience anymore.
58. Paul M Hupf:
The President has an agenda. His “apologies” during his most recent tour de force of Europe and the Mid East were intended to accentuate the divide in this country between those who want responsible government and pay taxes; and those who don’t.
What apology? Share the quote, won’t you?
I’m a birther and am praying everyday that a whistleblower somewhere out there in the world will have the courage to produce the evidence that proves Obama is ineligible to be POTUS. Then everything he has done will be null and void. Hello President McCain and Veep Sarah Palin.
58. Paul M. Hupf
“The intended result: they become more dependent on the Federal Government and are expected to vote for whomever promises them more. This in itself is a dangerous game. The one who promises the most will win no matter how irresponsible he is.”
Although your intention (I think)was to paint a picture a picture of the future, what you have said here is the clearest explanation I’ve seen yet as to why this fraud won the 2008 election. What you describe has already happened.
We are seeing the working out of the prophesy attributed to Benjamin Franklin:
“When the people find they can vote themselves money,
that will herald the end of the republic.”
So he is against waterboarding Islamists but for breaking the necks of babies? Okay.
#60:
“What apology? Share the quote, won’t you?”
Sheesh, man, get a grip. He said “apologies”, as in too numerous to count. If you require a quote to prove the point, get off your knees and re-read any of Obama’s speeches from his perambulations abroad.
On another topic:
R.I.P. Jack Kemp. Though he’s no longer the most famous alumnus of Occidental College (Oxy accords that honor to BHO), he remains the most consequential.
While the conservatives wring their hands and post comments, ACORN is being funded to win the next election. How many of you can tell us about the status of the voter fraud cases? The threatening heavy handed white house press corps will not keep you informed but if you step out of line and interfere with union progress, be prepared to learn a lesson.
From #28….53% of the vote…
===========================================
Obambi got 53% of the 58% of the electorate who bothered to vote. That’s about 31% of the electorate. That clown didn’t get anything like a majority.
Fortunately, I won’t live throught all that; I have a cancer… He, he, he…
the banking fiasco…. are the Chinese bankers the same fools that lent to those that couldn’t repay? or will they ask for collateral? will they deny the loan for lack of ability, the were with all to pay. or will they be so greedy as to let it go the way of fannie mae and freddy mac. will the Chinese government mind going into business with us? say for instance how much of the debt will they forgive,or defer, for say Taiwan. will Obama throw them under the bus.
Doc, great question: So we end with a whimper, after all?
And great posts all.
Doc’s question is loaded with import. How does Obama’s coda play out in history?
We who follow the inestimable Dr. Hanson believe in Natural Law and its greatest progeny, the US Constitution. Obama and his hordes hate the same.
However, Natural Law will win over time. And it wins with a natural push back. What would that push-back look like?
Well, if we could imagine the leaders of statism here in the US could all vanish; there would be no solution for they would be replaced with leaders packing seven times the demons our current crop of “enlightened” statists already have. The core problem is that 80 years of brain washing by statists has made a majority of statists in this nation of ours.
Well, Natural Laws’ push back fixes even errant majority opinion.
How?
For an answer, we must ask ourselves…. What would change the minds of lovers of statism? What would change the minds, in other words, of lie makers and lie lovers? (Because the majority in the US today overwhelmingly love the lies the statist leaders in education, politics and broadcast religion shenanigan-ville provide by their “eye that alters all”; by their owning the majority media outlets.
Well then, it would take quite a lot to convince such a deceived majority they are wrong to disbelieve natural law, it’s child the US Constitution and we who follow and understand Dr. Hanson and our Great Founding Fathers…
What would it take, I ask again?
First, a collapse of our statist-spoilt economy. It would wipe our our nation’s collective and our person wealth. This first stage is perhaps more than half done.
Second, a collapse of our statist-spoilt civility; meaning great civil unrest. This second stage would prove our federal government causes, not prevents, real mayhem that is dangerous and destructive.
Third, a collapse of our statist-spoilt nation through a crescendo of catastrophes including but not limited to plagues (swine flu), crushing tax burdens (trillion dollar deficits), unmanageable inflation (tax by other means), widespread loss of housing (mortgage defaults), collapse of the US Dollar (by design of Soros/Obama/et al), the ever-present natural disasters, and much-invited by Obama’s weak missteps…. eventual invasion or bombing of US soil or EU/Mystic Tyrant dominion by the unwashed hordes (Taliban that hates modernity’s confirmation of natural law and the blessings of our Founding Father’s concepts of self-constrained liberty, Russia that wants Alaskan oil, China that wants possession of what she has already bought (US notes and assets), Cuba that wants revenge, Venezuela that wants dominion of the Americas, and Muslims that want to control the other side of their oil exchange, etc.
This awful Step Three might include an attack on the US military that decimates and/or occupies three-fourths of its current force.
This awful Step Three would surely change statist-loving minds of the current majority of US citizens and even illegal immigrants.
This awful Step Three would perhaps convince the majority of US Citizens that natural law is truth, that natural law’s progeny in government is the US Constitution, that the US Founding Fathers were blessedly correct, and that the US must return to Reagan’s precepts and lines, and take actions to restore America to her greatness.
However, as I mentioned, perhaps Step Three means the US Military is mostly wiped out or occupied in foreign entanglements.
What then?
To answer this question, go visit a local Walmart and ask the clerk at the ammo counter for some 9 mm, 45 ACP, .40 cal for your pistol; or ask for 30-30 for your lever action, or ask for .308 for your rifle, or .223 for your utility rifle.
And you will be told they are out, and have been since it was clear Obama and Statists of renown would be elected… about since last summer. You will also be told that IF they had ammo, you would be limited to three boxes per purchase. You would be rationed, if they had stock.
Can EVERYONE who bought ammo be wrong?
Now, back to the scenario…
A decimated US military might ask for volunteers from state groups to help reinstate the US Constitution. God bless America.
However, I could be wrong.
Perhaps there is another way this planet will shake off the high evil of “enlightened” (so-called) statism. I just cannot think of another.
Paul-Indiana, not to mention the fraudulent voters within that ’31%’ of the electorate.
Statistically, it becomes easier to explain the continual rising of leftist zombies. Makes me wonder how conservatives continue to survive, in fact.
1. Half of the people out there are below average IQ and/or ability. They rarely enjoy the American Dream. They work hard but don’t seem to get anywhere. Understandable discontentment.
2. Of the other half – above average IQ and/or ability – more enjoy the American Dream. But not all. There is resentment and there is entitlement, especially among youth.
3. Media is liberal because of market direction. The most entertaining themes are liberal themes; striking out against The Man, elite condescension; conspiracies of power. These all make you feel like your problems are caused by somebody else and that you can’t control your life. It’s a security blanket for when you’re down.
4. We all resent successful people. We want to bring them down unless we are feeling very, very good about ourselves. And we don’t always feel that good.
5. Conservatism is no fun. Self-reliance – blah. Responsibility – yeesh. Success? Buy a Lotto ticket.
6. The traits above are some of the basic, emotional reponses that led us all to start out as liberals when we were very young. The young do not have the underlying facts to allow them to reason past these emotions.
When I was 20, you couldn’t have explained it to me why sometimes conlict and war are neccessary. Since I was not aware of the complex underlying factors, I did not have the factual basis to support a better understanding of the issue.
Combine these 6 and it’s almost impossible to explain the survival of conservatism at all, eh?
Professor Hanson,
Does H.R. 1207 merit attention? And since the White House seems to be revisiting Victory gardens, shouldn’t we also be running PSAs and offering Liberty bonds to the American public first as a public and patriotic means of financing debt for the wa… contingency operations and all? Will Soapbox supporters be rerouted from Chicago to Crawford at no charge if necessary?
Why is a father’s late term reproductive decision prosecutable as a forced miscarriage? Wouldn’t it be better if we just didn’t collect demographic information on abortion, you know, with minority representation, accidental births, and statutory rape? Why is marriage now so much more than “just a piece of paper,” when it previously didn’t legitimize love? Why bother with civil rights that don’t conform to the current secular agenda anyway? How do dyslexics pass exams for promotion?
Why are newspaper unions bullied into concessions? Why is the mastermind of the Internet inhospitable to an open debate with an English lord? But then again, why does Congress debate when so much can be achieved through last minute legislation and judicial fiat, not to mention closed sessions? How will we protect the salaries of trial lawyers when government agencies determine best medical practices? How could we have tolerated a First Lady who promoted reading and earned such a small salary?
And if I may, with all respect, sir: “The days of movies, plays, and novels slurring [the standing] President are over.”
I apologize for all these questions, but I was curious and well, I got thrown out of Press Corps 101 again. I think I’m failing that class. I did so well in my charter school…
Whining, whining, whining.
“4.) What exactly is the current status of the war on terror? ”
There is no “war”, just a bunch of crazy Islamists. Pull out the troops and let them kill themselves. Or the Israelis will. Or the Indian. Or the Chinese. Let’s save a few billion.
Which open borders are you referring to? Mexico maybe, but Canada seems to be singled out as more lethal than either Mexico or Somalia (intellectual piracy, passport requirement, terrorist conduit, CDN unfair trading, “dirty” energy etc., etc.) Canadians can see the Dem protectionist, Nafta-destroying writing on the wall and are currently scrambling day and night behind the scenes to diversify their economy away from over dependence on the US as cross-border trading gets more and more problematic and Obama favours Venezuelan oil over CDN oil. Our best hope in this constrained, ridiculous situation is to finalize the process we’ve begun for full candidature of the EU. Yes, Canada a member of the EU!
#42
I don’t think I am wrong. Everything Obama has done or advocated he announced during his campaign and the left was very open and vocal about their plans during the campaign ie. ACORN and voting fraud and the massive antiwar demonstrations. All anyone had to do to understand Obama was listen to his speech in Berlin last summer, “we are the ones we have been waiting for.”
I hope you are right about the popularity of the Democrats bursting by the way.
#9 BellaMia
I am with you. Thank you for the link showing what ‘real’ torure is.
Hummmm,,, in recent memory the leader of the Taliban has promised a terrible blow to America. If I recall correctly, he mentioned washington DC by name. Since these islam-o-nut terrorists are close to Pakistan, is he perhaps thinking he will soon have a nuke to throw at the USA? And some clever unforeseen method of delivery?
I wonder how the left would react if the jihadist reduce Washington DC to a great smoking hole in the ground under a mushroom shaped cloud;
or NYC, or LA.
Food for thought, since the obama administration does not seem to have their eye to firmly affixed on the Paki nukes.
This is all very good, however no mention of who put us in the toilet. Who’s going to buy the ‘Obama is poison’ message [ or at least allow their vote to be thus swayed ] when they know the Pubbies and their masters are nothing but pirates?
The Mom and Apple Pie/’Free Market’ Capitalism boys were in power while we all became a debtor nation and inslaved tax victims.
75. vivo
There is no “war”, just a bunch of crazy Islamists. Pull out the troops and let them kill themselves. Or the Israelis will. Or the Indian. Or the Chinese. Let’s save a few billion.
Oh, you mean like is was on 9/10/01?
I’m trying to remember how that worked out for us.
“I’ve raised this example twice now. But, really, how is waterboarding a known detained terrorist like Khalid Sheik Mohammed (who confessed to cutting off Daniel Pearl’s head [with two knives after the first went dull], and to planning the 9/11 mass murder) at Guantanamo considered a war crime, while blowing up with a Predator drone suspected terrorists (and all those, including women and children, in their general vicinity) not?”
In the former case, you have the victim in your custody. In the latter case, you do not.
It’s like asking why a police officer is allowed to fire upon an armed man pointing a gun at him, but is not allowed to fire upon a man who *had been* armed and dangerous, but is now handcuffed and immobilized.
It’s a clear, straightforward distinction.
Wolla Dalbo,
You wrote and nicely done:
I believe some of those key principles should be states rights, attaining a severely limited federal government with a drastically curtailed ability to tax and spend, maximum individual freedom, strict construction of the Constitution…
Yeah, but THE slogan must incapsulate all of that to fit on a bumpersticker/placard/ banner, no? Plus, the SLOGAN must inculcate and project our intent.
You and our host ably and consicely outline our myriad problems. Bleak. Given the temperature of the water, I would suggest that US frogs-in-the-pot ought to be focusing less on refining our observations and more on solutions. The boiling point is at hand – 2010 temp = 200 degrees.
What’s the rallying cry? What one message can we send that gets the undiluted attention of the President, both houses, the courts and the bureacracy that will recruit voters to our cause? Enough at least, to have any hope of making any difference?
You’re All Go’in to Gitmo! comes to mind. This expresses the level of our displeasure and serves to unite all of our natural constituencies.
IOW, unless the electeds feel very, very threatened in the upcoming 2010 and 2012 elections, we have little chance of ever reversing course. Kulaks-r-US.
What the House and Senate did re: Stimulus was theft. Passing this level of funding without reading the bill is outright criminal derilection of duty. Then, of course there’s all the graft, corruption, pandering, posturing, self-promotion, scofflawing, favoratism, pay-off, scandel, cronyism stuff too. Class-action against the political class is the imperative.
Every one of the Senators and Representatives who voted “for” has to know they’re going to be unseated and criminally prosecuted, if they lose. 600 in the dock, all tried at once. Loss of all pension and benefits being the minimum penalty – jailtime for the leaders. At Gitmo.
At this point, if we’re not angry enough to buy-in to this expression of intent and commit to its cause, we invite our enslavement. 95%+ of the incumbents win re-election. Looks to be the challenge. Republican leadership better get aboard, or the party becomes irrelavent by 2012.
Only concern I have is whether the US will last until 12/21/2012 much less thereafter! Of course, if something bad happens it’ll be Bush’s fault, obviously! All the more reason to raise taxes.
On the other hand, perhaps I need to “invest” in lumber and nails so that my doors and windows can be blockaded or closed off.
However, in fact I’ll just wait for the next VDH essay, which, as usual, will be based on fact and logic, which probably will be pessimistic too. It’s hard not to be these days. Time for a good bottle of Guinness!
orange:
“In the former case, you have the victim in your custody. In the latter case, you do not.”
Referring to KSM as a “victim” is a bit much. After all, his victims were the ones jumping out the window a hundred stories up. Hardly compares to being waterboarded, especially as performed by our rather squeamish lads at Clowns In Action.
Also, I’m not sure the suspected terrorists being blown up by Predator drones in Waziristan — along with their families — are analogous to a perp pointing a gun at a police officer. There’s the proximity factor to consider. Not that I mind the tactic, though. I do wish those good hadjis godspeed on their journey to see Allah.
The key point is that at the time of the waterboarding, KSM did pose a threat. By his silence he was aiding and abetting one or more planned atrocities, mass killings of civilians which served no military purpose, but only the political purpose of reducing confidence in the ability of America to protect her own.
The justification for the torture, in my opinion, lies exactly and specifically in our very high confidence, supported by KSM’s own remarks, that he knew of more political mass murders of Americans, planned on American soil. And in that the American government has, as its first duty, the protection of both Americans and American soil. This is a positive moral obligation, not to be negated by the “rights” of the (war) criminal as he is in the act of committing the crime, which is in this case to remain silent about an act in progress which is not legal under any accepted theory of war whatsoever–except of course, under the theories accepted by bolsheviks, maoists, warlords, and terrorists. But we, as civilized people, reject those theories (well, Saul Alinsky doesn’t, and maybe Obama doesn’t, and …) and so we must reject the notion that they are justified in what they are doing, and that the people doing them are protected from our acts of self-defense.
This is entirely different from torture for revenge or other personal pleasure, and it requires that we have the means and capacity to use the information effectively.
Doesn’t this about take the cake? I cannot believe we (American’s ) have voted these clowns into office and we sit back and complain. Why do you people vote for thes kind of people? We all need to start doing our home work before we go to the poles. Get on the net and find out how these people have voted previously. We can vote these senator’s and congressmen out of office. Lets do it? I told everyone I came across what Obama was and how he had voted in the senate for 2 & 1/2 years and nobody would believe me. FIND OUT FOR YOURSELF. Keep voting the old ones out and putting in new congressmen and senators until they start listening to us the people.