It's Not Morning in America Anymore

And yes, Toto, we are not in Kansas anymore either.  Instead, we are in a State of Shock and Disbelief.    About a month before the Supreme Court's decision upholding the Constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), a University of Texas Law Professor wrote an opinion piece recommending that the Court acknowledge the constitutional invalidity of the insurance mandate (which is codified in a separate provision of the law), but simultaneously uphold the penalty for an individual's failure to obtain said health care insurance.  I recall laughing out loud upon first reading this erudite scholar's seriously advanced proposal.  I then concluded that the Republic was indeed safe, for now, and possibly for the foreseeable future, as the liberal elite had finally shown itself to be totally intellectually dishonorable, openly ignoring any need to adhere to the Rule of Law.  I thought how utterly cynical - a tenured professor at a well respected Law School argues that a federal law should be construed to impose no legal duty or mandate to do something, and yet should a person not undertake such a voluntary, non-lawfully required act, he or she will be made subject to a collection action by the IRS for thousands of dollars in penalties.  In short, I knew that no right thinking, rational person could envision a society in which engaging in lawful conduct is made subject to mandatory federal sanctions - such cognitive dissonance would have been rejected by George Orwell as too implausible for his novel "1984".

Well, guess what Elite Members Oceania 2 Point O has arrived in the former federalist Republic of the United States.  Chief Justice John Roberts, to all plausible accounts, literally sucker punched the conservative wing of the Court by changing his vote after the several Justice's opinions, 5-4 majority and dissenter's, had already been written finding the ACA unconstitutional in its entirety.  Mr. Roberts, without even acknowledging or giving credit to the Texas law genius, initially struck down the insurance mandate because in our Constitutional Republic with only enumerated powers given to the federal government, the Commerce Clause does not, and cannot, reach individual inactivity.  That initial conclusion by Roberts constitutes the very foundation and essence of America's unique system of government - were the national government to hold unfettered police powers to legislate the full panoply of duties of its citizenry under the guise of regulating commerce, then the fifty states (or 57 should Obama be asked) would not be sovereign entities, alone charged with exercising authority to enact laws enhancing the general welfare. They would be merely administrative appendages of the national government, doing only what told to do from on high.

A limited national government of explicitly stated, enumerated powers was enshrined in the Constitution, and has remained inviolate for more than two hundred years, until Roberts brought back to life the insurance mandate as a tax, which legislative enactment was disclaimed by every Senator and Congressman who voted in favor of the ACA, as well as the President in signing the Bill.  

What Roberts has accomplished is breathtakingly incompatible with same Constitutional principle he so ardently championed in explaining how the Commerce Clause can not go beyond the regulatory powers as envisioned by the Framers, in order to preserve and maintain our nation's two sovereigns, federal system of limited national government.  What Law Judge, not experiencing total cognitive dissonance, would conclude that the Constitution forbids the insurance mandate - as such invalidity is crucial to the very essence of our governmental structure - but then declare that the Framers authorized that same mandate in another provision of the same Constitution.

As noted by the Court's four dissenters, Chief Justice Roberts' Tax power holding is a chimera, an illusion, a fantasy, a semantic construct of such utter arrogant cynicism that it must be characterized as " ... verbal wizardry too far, deep into the forbidden land of the sophists".  Indeed, first in Texas, now in all of America: War is Peace, and everybody better love Big Brother, or the IRS will be knocking on your door.

Why Brian Terry Still Matters, Now More Than Ever

Memorial day weekend is in full swing - Mom, hot dogs, apple pie and baseball, the unofficial start of Summer, with hopefully, time for some small rememberances of those who died willingly for our precious way of life - Free, because these men and women were so brave,

In times past, it seems that Memorial Day focused on the sacrifices of the Nation's Greatest Generation - our World War II Veterans, who had died in that most horrific of conflagrations, defeating both the Nazi Axis and the Empire of Japan simultaneously.

Accordingly, today I wish to honor a fallen hero, from a different era of mortal combat, one in which the Nation's survival is in no less in jeopardy, Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.  Brian is that most rare of America's dead War Heroes - ignored by his Commander-in-Chief, the President of the United States, and almost scorned by the Nation's top law enforcement officer, the Attorney General of the United States.  The reasons for this despicable mistreatment of Brian Terry are well known to few Americans, so let me briefly retell how he was gunned down defending our southern border from the ongoing tidal wave of invaders - drug smugglers, human slave traffickers and terrorists bent on our destruction.

In short, Brian Terry was murdered by a drug cartel soldier using an AK-47 freely given to his Drug Masters by the Department of Justice, in furtherance of a so-called sting operation, Fast & Furious.  With approval of top DOJ officials, the ATF Office in Arizona facilitated the "strawman" purchase of thousands of automatic weapons from legitimate gun shops near the Mexican border, knowing that these buyers were working for the Mexican Cartels and would immediately deliver these weapons to their criminal bosses across the border.

As a result of this federal government criminal conspiracy to engage in "gun walking", hundreds of Mexicans have been murdered by these walked weapons and Brian Terry's family lives every single day knowing that the US government is an accessory in his willful murder.  Attorney General Holder refuses to condemn Operation Fast & Furious, saying only that it had flawed tactics, but that the scourge of Mexican drug violence demands "out-of-the-box" thinking to curb this deadly onslaught.

What an insult to Brian Terry, his family and to us, the American people - with no tracking devices inplanted in these walked weapons, with no surveillance of their movement across the Mexican border and no notifications made to the Mexican government as to the US government allowing thousands of automatic weapons to flow umimpeded into the hands of Mexican drug cartels, F&F worked exactly as its was intended to - cause thousands of illegal American bought weapons to show up at mostly Mexican crime scenes.  Too bad, about Brian Terry being murdered with a F&F walked gun just north of the border.  Oh well, the President, the Attorney General and the Main Stream Media can all today celebrate Memorial Day by enjoying hot dogs, apple pie, baseball and calls home to Mom.

Of course, Mrs. Terry will not be doing any of those joyful things today, most especially not getting a loving holiday call from her fallen war hero son, Brian Terry.  Makes me want to cry.    

Elizabeth Warren, Part Deux

Last week for a change, I tuned into Fox News to catch up on the Lizzy Warren indian escapades.  Fomer Governor Dean campaign director, Joe Trippy, was being interviewd by Steve Duccie, during which conversation, Mr. Trippy castigated the Warren campaign staff for its apparent unpreparedness to address the candidate's claim to the birthright of a Native American.  At first blush, Mr. Trippy's insight seemed to really hit the bulls-eye, so I decided to reflect on what a competent campaign would have said in response to media inquiries about this Warren Claim.  This strategic evaluation gave rise to the Top Ten Reasons Ms. Warren called herself an American Indian:

1) There was no Cherokee law against it.

2) She is a First Amendment Absolutetist.

3) She thought she was putting down Indiana as her home state.

4) She hates Indians, so she didn't want any of them to get a job.

5) She loves Indians, so she knew they would take pride in her accomplishments.

6) She is an irrational liar.

7) She is a rational liar.

8) Hey, you never know, so it could be true.

9) Hey, isn't everyone from Oklahoma a half breed?

And the Number One reasons Elizabeth Warren called herself an AI -
Personal integrity is so old school.

Why Elizabeth Warren Doesn't Matter

Elizabeth Warren must think all voters of Massachusetts are stupid,  Well, we shall see in November.  Ms. Warren claims to be a Native-American for two reasons: her family all have high cheek bones and in her family "lore" (shared around the campfire when Liz was a small papoose) she was repeatedly told of the participation of her ancestors in raiding parties that took dozens of white scalps in the 1890's throughout the Oklahoma territory.  Hyperbole? Probably, but one never knows when tribe elders get their fill of firewater!

Now, the Warren Senate campaign is in full stampede seeking to explain the reason for Liz's assertion of an American Indian birthright. They told the Media that Ms. Warren so informed Harvard Law School of this minority status in order to enlarge the number of invitations to luncheons.  Seriously, no hyperbole.

I guess the Harvard elite wanted to hear Liz's hair-raising tales of sudden hair lose in living women and children.  All humor aside, obviously Ms. Warren speaks with a fork tongue, exploiting the most abused minority in American history for career advancement, or in her words, for a conversation starter at free lunches. (I say this because slaves were often well treated to increase work productivity, while Indians were only killed).  

Obviously, Elizabeth Warren needs to apologize to Native Americans, indeed all Americans for this egregious lack of integrity.  (See, President Obama can serve as a role model in certain situations.)  Then, Ms Warren needs to fully fund a collegiate scholarship for real Native Americans, preferably at Davidson College in Davidson, North Carolina.  This option is available immediately, as the offer of such a scholarship has been awaiting funding since my freshman year at this liberal arts school in April of 1968. Should Liz choose to do so, I will be morally bound to contribute to the Fund as well. My sense is that Liz has no real chance of being elected a US. Senator, and I have less of one to be writing a Scholarship check on her behalf. 

  

Why Brian Terry Still Matters

Regrettably, U.S. Border Patrol Agent, Brian Terry is dead, while his murderers, and those in the Department of Justice who provided the gun to his killers, are still at large, indeed living large.  To hit the Reset Button, I asked in a Post, dated June 15, 2011: "When a Good Man Dies Needlessly, Who Cares?" After the White House Correspondent's Dinner this past weekend, the unequivocal answer is obvious - No one in Washington, D.C.   As stated on June 15th, Brian Terry is an American Hero, who died defending our country from foreign invaders, seeking to do us all great harm - drug smugglers bringing in crack cocaine guaranteed to spread crime, poverty and despair throughout our population's most vulnerable poor communities, and risking death to those in the entertainment industry who chose to indulge their habitual weaknesses.  Operation Fast & Furious - DOJ allowing illegal guns to "walk" into Mexico to arm the drug cartels - is the most bloody scandal in US Presidential history - over 200 dead Mexicans and two US law enforcement officers.  Still, no Presidential apology to the Nation of Mexico.

Instead, we get this "Joke" from Jimmy Kimmel speaking directly to the President at the Correspondent's Dinner: "Even some of your fellow democrats think you're a pushover, Mr. President.  They think you should stick to your guns.  And if you don't have any guns, they would like you to ask Eric Holder to get you some."  So hilarious, Mr. Obama laughed out loud.  Can you envision Ronald Reagan, John Kennedy, Harry Truman or even Lyndon Johnson giggling about such a preventable tragedy, particularly one for which Mr. Obama's Attorney General is directly responsible.  I can't; as stated on June 15th, they would have had those in their Administration responsible fired the same day they were informed of Brian Terry's death.  Instead, we get that Mr. Obama is willing to apologize only for the perceived misdeeds of President Bush, while his own are the subject of probably the worst joke in Correspondent's Dinner History.  Not a good showing by the Fourth Estate, who faked laughs along with him.

Why Leonid Brezhnev Still Matters

As all wisdom in the former Soviet Union resided in the Communist Party Central Committee - managing every facet of inhumane life across the eleven time zones of this vast Empire from inside the crumbling Kremlin walls - Party Chair Leonid Brezhnev was one powerful top dog.  From the wheat harvest quota in the Ukraine every five years, to the number of shoes manufactured in Kiev annually and to the length of women skirts nationally, no economic activity escaped the purview of the Dictatorship's central planners.  So then, how did all this government, all the time, everywhere work for the 200 plus million serfs?  Well, not so well actually - millions died of starvation, while the rest of the Empire's population suffered through the shortest life expectancy of any western nation, largely due to rampant alcoholism, social dependency and shameful loss of individual dignity.

Of course, President Obama is no Leonid- lite.  He doesn't think that only the Executive Office of the President should set the interest rate on every single student loan in America.  Oops, yes he does.  He doesn't think only the Executive Office of the President should decide what barnyard chores parents can allow their children to perform on every single family farm in America.  Oops, yes he does.  He doesn't think that only the Executive Office of the President should decide what health insurance coverage should apply to every single private business (including free contraception and abortion pills for every single church employee) in America.  Oops, yes he does.

Oh, did I mention that all the central planners in the Executive Office of the President work in Washington, DC, a separate time/space reality than all of us in the "real" world of business budgets, limited by actual cash flow, and debts that must really be paid.  Two examples of DC-mania - no local police could ever dare try to pull off the Secret Service trick of Guys and Paid Dolls.  To find government employees who feel no accountability to anyone, you need to issue them a federal credit card w/. no credit limit, a free plane ticket and a free week in Cartehegna, Columbia to get what America got last week.  Oh, did I mention that the unanimous response from the DC Establishment - Executive, Congress, Media - is that the Secret Service training programs may need to be tightened up a bit.  Are these inside the Beltway dolts serious?  The Secret Service agent who disgraced our Nation in Cartehegna, Columbia, who is unaware of this conduct's total unacceptability, does not exist.  Yet, the central Powers-that-Be either are so removed from reality that they don't know this obvious truth, or they think that we Americans are just too stupid to know this truth.

Well Leonid-wanta be's in DC - We are not Stupid. So, let me ask this - Do any of us wise Americans think it is a good idea to transfer more and more power to the DC Overseers, who just gave us the GSA Gone Wild in Vegas and Secret Service Gone Wild in Columbia?  I don't;  so give me back my personal health care responsibilities, while you'se guys clean up that cesspool of excess in DC.

The President's Rhetoric - "Unprecedented"

Well, Elite Members, paraphrasing Ronald Reagan: here I go again. Yes, I have another bone to pick with the current occupant of the White House. Surely, some out there in Blogsville will say enuff with the hypercritical bombast, Mr. Random Thoughts, as we already know how disdainful and disrespectful U are toward the President. Ok, then; I will not engage in any such ad hominem proselytizing. Instead, I will let Barrack Hussien Obama speak for himself:

I'd just remind conservatives that for years what we have heard is the biggest problem
on the bench was judicial activism or a lack of judicial restraint - that AN UNELECTED
GROUP OF PEOPLE would somehow overturn the duly constittued ...

Now, most of the controversy in the media'a pushback on this week's Presidential Rose Garden Statement has been on the question of wherther or not Obama truly doesn't understand the separation powers mandating judicial review of Congressional enactments when challenged by litigants as being unconstitutional. He does. So, let's focus instead on what is unprecedented in Mr. Obama's "calling out" the Supreme Court as a bunch of "unelected people". That dismissive mischaracterization by the President constitutes a not so veiled attack on the very legitimacy of the Supreme Court's constitutional stature in our Republic of three co-equal branches of government. By undermining the very integrity of the high court, Mr. Obama has threatened the Rule of Law, the very foundation of our nation's exceptionalism.

I remember more than once growing up and hearing of some very unpopular Supreme Court ruling, followed by the President, most often Ike, (example - ban on school prayers) saying that while he disagreed with the decision, it was now everyone's solemn obligation to respect and obey the final word as laid out by the Supreme Court. This week, instead, we get a President, so disrespectful of the Court and its crucial role in our system of checks and balances that he declares them to be like a group of no buddies from down the block just hanging out waiting to mug some young girl trying to enter a Planned Parenthood Office to get her free contraceptives. And for a sitting President to rip the Supreme Court as not properly constituted or empowered to invalidate a federal statute while the appeal is still pending is truly UNPRECEDENTED in our nation's history. Some classy guy there.