Final Post: Stick a fork in America.

If Romney had won decisively, I might have held out just a little bit of hope for America.  Not because I think Mittens is any great savior, but because we would have seen an absolute repudiation of the Oppressive worldview.

Ann's right, and she's been right for months.  THE AMERICAN REPUBLIC IS DEAD.  More people want free stuff than care where it comes from, or who has to pay for it.  More people would rather be told what to think, than think for themselves.  More people care more about the cult of personality than the rule of law.

We're screwed.  We've passed the point of no return.  Sorry, Lord--we had our chance and we pissed it away.  I humbly beg of You that we may learn from this failure and get it right the next time, whenever--or if ever--that may be.

Prepare and pray, y'all.  The shit is officially on.

Wraith...over and out.

Cats in Rome

By way of Fr. Z, an article about the cats in Rome and the battle over them:

They also have a successful but modest adoption program, and for the many cats that don’t have the temperament, good health or conventionally good looks to find a loving, responsible home, they provide a permanent home for them in the sanctuary. A distance adoption program allows people all over the world to “adopt” one of these permanent residents by sending a monthly donation. In return they get pictures and updates about their long distance kitty.

Volunteers clean the cages and feed and see to the medical needs of the animals starting every morning, seven days a week, at 8:00 AM. Because the space is so small, disease can spread like wildfire. To prevent this from happening, the volunteers are obsessive about cleaning. I don’t mean just wiping stuff down. I mean full-on sterilization of every litter scoop between every use, of every surface daily. Read the volunteer manual (pdf) to see what kind of standards they employ. I can’t even look my cat in the eye after reading that.

There’s just one problem: this whole thing is technically illegal. They’re squatters. The sanctuary was built without a permit and on an ancient monument. Even though it’s been in operation almost 20 years, for some reason this year government officials have cottoned onto it as a political issue and the refuge is now being threatened with eviction. Authorities, who clearly have not read the volunteer manual, say it’s a health hazard and that it compromises ancient remains. They say this as they build a new tram line right over those ancient remains, which might seem to some like a rather glaring hypocrisy.

RTWT, as usual.  And, once again, we see the results of a bunch of control freaks attempting to thwart a good cause for no reason than sheer bloody-mindedness.  Not that this has anything to do with that whole 'liberty' thing...

Votaz Wit Attitudez

Obummer is...well, we all know.  And if you don't, you must have found this blog about five seconds ago, not to mention being clinically insane.  So I'll vote for him when Satan wears a parka.  But I don't trust Mittens as far as I can comfortably shot-put a Kenworth. 

So I voted Libertarian.  Therefore, my vote translates to--in the immortal words of Ice Cube--

(WARNING:  Profanity)

The final word on Sandy's aftermath

The inimitable Bayou Renaissance Man posts a big ol' STFU to those whining about how "da gubmint aint doin' enuf!"

Too bad, New Yorkers. You've permitted your city government to restrict your Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms for decades - in fact, for over a century. This is the result. Your criminals have guns, because they don't care about obeying the law in the first place! If they're prepared to break laws against theft, assault, drug-dealing, murder, etc., what makes you think they'll obey those prohibiting them from possessing firearms? All you've done by accepting such laws is to disarm yourselves, the law-abiding citizens of the city - and that makes you prey for the (armed) predators among you.

Even owning (let alone carrying) a handgun in New York City involves jumping through so many bureaucratic hoops that it's effectively impossible unless you know (and/or bribe) 'the right people'. For those who conquer the somewhat lesser bureaucratic obstacles to owning a long gun (i.e. a rifle or shotgun), they at least have available an effective means of home defense (although they're not allowed to carry it with them outside their homes, or in their vehicles). However, if they use it, even in legitimate self-defense, they're very likely to be arrested and charged with a crime, because the New York City prosecutorial system is set up to presume that a shooter is, by default, a criminal. Only those in NYPD uniform are given the benefit of the doubt.

I wouldn't live under a system like that if you paid me . . . but if you've chosen to do so, the consequences are on your own head. This outbreak of crime is one of them.
 

RTWT.  That's why I live in a small town in Arizona.  That's why I stock my pantry and ammunition cabinet.  That's why I carry.

If you're depending on Big Daddy Government to hold your hand, wipe your ass and keep you safe, the time is fast approaching when you will discover just how tragically wrong you were.  Possibly at the cost of your life.  You can depend on no one but you and yours to protect and provide for you.  If you believe differently, you'd better wake up and realize you've been living a lie, before it's too late.

The (far-from-complete) list of Obama atrocities

At PJ Media, Zombie gives us a look at just how screwed we are, thanks to the Thug Regime:

• $6 trillion in new national debt under Obama…after he promised to decrease the deficit.
• Obamacare — A massive and incredibly convoluted bill which exponentially increases the federal government’s control over our personal lives…which neither Obama nor a single Democrat even read before passing, and which will likely bankrupt the nation.
• In both the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections, the Obama campaign purposely disabled the credit card verification system for its Web site donations, allowing anyone from any foreign country to donate with no limit and no proof of identity; in both elections it was demonstrated that people overseas and people with obviously false identities were able to donate to Obama campaign, in direct violation of several laws. To this day it is not known what percentage of Obama’s campaign funds are illegally obtained, since there is no documentation.
• Billions of taxpayer dollars gambled on “green” companies like Solyndra, NextEra, Ener1, Solar Trust and many others — all of which went bankrupt.
• An intentional refusal to enforce federal immigration laws.
• Unemployment at or above 8% for almost his entire term in office (which was actually closer to 15% actual unemployment).
• Operation Fast & Furious — a government-sponsored illegal gun-running scheme designed to purposely go awry so as to induce public outcry for gun control.
• Spent 20 years listening to a racist anti-American pastor (Rev. Jeremiah Wright), whom Obama desribed as a mentor. On March 18, 2008, Obama gave a speech in which he said “I could no more disown Jeremiah Wright than I could disown my own grandmother” and “[Wright's church, Trinity United] embodies the black community in its entirety.” Now Obama tries to pretend that Jeremiah Wright doesn’t exist, and that his extremist anti-white philosophy didn’t influence Obama’s worldview.
• Increased the percentage of Americans dependent on food stamps to unprecedented levels (now over 15% of the nation’s population).
• Militarily intervened in Libya in 2011 without the Congressional approval required by the War Powers Act — technically an impeachable offense.
• Before he entered politics, Obama worked as a lawyer suing banks in landmark cases, forcing them to give home loans to unqualified minority borrowers — a practice now understood as one of the primary initial causes of the eventual housing bubble and market collapse.
• Handed out over 1,200 waivers to politically connected donors exempting them from the onerous requirements of Obamacare.
• Greatly expanding the number of unaccountable “czars,” which essentially amounts to unilaterally adding new federal departments with no congressional oversight — leading to a true “bureaucracy” in the original sense (rule by unelected bureaucrats).
• Using taxpayer dollars to bail out the private pension funds of autoworkers’ unions at GM & Chrysler.
• Illegally ending the welfare-to-work requirements passed by Congress.
• Doling out $800 billion in stimulus cash for “shovel-ready” jobs that didn’t exist — the money just evaporated with no measurable economic benefit.
• Alienating and isolating Israel, our strongest ally in the Middle East.
• Apologizing to Islamists and terrorists for offending them.
• Under Obama’s watch, for the first time in history America’s credit rating was downgraded, due to his poor economic policies.
• Stopped American oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, allowing other nations with worse environmental records to drill instead — thereby managing to both weaken our economy and damage the environment simultaneously.
• Proposed in 2008 to intentionally bankrupt the coal industry — and now lies to voters and workers in coal-producing regions about his true intent.
• Pretends to be concerned about skyrocketing energy prices, when in fact he vowed to increase them on purpose (so as to make alternative energy schemes more competitive.)
• In a primary debate against Hillary Clinton in 2008, Obama said he would never force people to buy health insurance, since those without it couldn’t afford to buy it. Less than two years later, he rammed through Obamacare, which does indeed force people to buy health insurance.
• During the 2008 campaign, Obama repeatedly promised that if he was elected “No family making less than $250,000 will see any form of tax increase.” This promise was broken over and over again once he was elected.
• In 2008 Obama vowed if elected to increase security along the U.S.-Mexican border — and then in 2010 stopped construction of a “virtual fence” on the border and re-routed money earmarked for border security to other projects.
• Cash for Clunkers, which doled out taxpayer money to anyone who wanted to replace their old cars, but which mostly only ended up subsidizing the puchase of foreign-made cars by people who could have afforded them on their own anyway; meanwhile, the traded-in cars were all destroyed, creating a shortage and thereby increasing the cost of used cars, hurting the pocketbooks of poor people.
• Violated the U.S. Constitution by authorizing assassinations and drone strikes to kill American citizens abroad — without due process.
• Was caught on a “hot mike” promising the President of Russia that he would cave in to their demands for a weaker missile shield — after he was re-elected and no longer had to keep up the pretense that he sought to defend America.
• Appointed Van Jones, a former avowed communist who supported a “9/11 Truth” petition, to be “Green Jobs Czar.”
• Appointed Anita Dunn, who said Chairman Mao was her “favorite philosopher,” to be White House Communications Director.
• Appointed John Holdren, who perviously entertained the notion of forced mass sterilzation to stop overpopulation, to be Science Czar.
• Appointed Steven Chu, who openly advocated an artificial increase in gasoline prices to $10/gallon (and similar increases in other energy prices) to be Secretary of Energy.
• Appointed Kevin Jennings, who led a group that promoted X-rated “sex-positive” textbooks for 13-year-olds, instructed teenagers at a conference how to perform “fisting” (anal penetration by fists), who refused to report instances of statutory rape, and who expressed admiration for a member of NAMBLA, to be America’s “Safe School’s Czar.”
• When states voted to enforce the federal immigration laws which the federal government refused to enforced, Obama sued to stop them.
• Blocked continued construction of the Keystone Pipeline, thereby intentionally reducing energy resources for the US and forcing Canada to sell more of its oil to China.
• Repeatedly changed his position on gay marriage over the years, depending on what was politically expedient at the moment and which intended audience he was addressing.
• Before he was president, Obama staunchly opposed raising the national debt limit — but once elected, he insisted that it be raised.
• When giving a 2009 speech in France that he hoped and assumed Americans would never hear, he described the United States as “arrogant” and “dismissive.”
• When states tried to stop election fraud with voter ID laws, Obama sued to prevent them from doing so.
• Instructed Attorney General Eric Holder to stonewall any investigation into the voter intimidation case against the New Black Panthers.
• Promised in 2008 that once elected he would officially recognize the Armenian Genocide; but to this date he has still failed to do so, caving in to threats and pressure from Turkey.
• Vowed to end the influence of lobbyists in Washington, but under Obama’s watch their influence has only increased.
• When he was first running for President, Obama promised, “I will not sign any non-emergency bill without giving the American public an opportunity to review and comment on the White House website for five days.” Needless to say, he has broken that promise with almost every bill he has signed since.
• Aided and abetted the “Arab Spring” which deposed existing secular governments across North Africa, leading to a regional power vacuum which was filled by Al Qaeda, the Muslim Brotherhood, and other hardline Islamists.
• Refused to provide assistance or support the the earlier secular Iranian democracy uprising, allowing them to be crushed by the Islamic fundamentalist Iranian regime.
• In his first months in office, Obama bowed to the king of Saudi Arabia, the president of China, the Emperor of Japan, and President of Mexico, among others.
• Ordered NASA to make one of its top priorities not space exploration or scientific research but “Muslim outreach.”
• Used Obamacare as a pretext to greatly increase the size and power of the IRS (which was given 16,000 new agents and additional mandates to penalize taxpayers for noncompliance).
• Used the IRS to harass conservative businesses.
• In the GM bailout, he illegally shortchanged investors who according to bankruptcy laws were first in line to be recompensed; instead, he gave their share to the unions.
• Shut down oil drilling in the US, but then turned around and lent $2 billion to Brazil to support their government-controlled oil-drilling effort — and then promised the US would become one of Brazil’s biggest oil customers.
• Sued Boeing in an effort to control where businesses could locate, kowtow to the unions, and block the creation of 1,000 jobs in South Carolina, a right-to-work (i.e. no forced unionization) state.
• Adopted a longstanding Socialist political slogan, “Forward!”, as his 2012 campaign motto.
• Sent insulting form letters to the familes of dead SEALs.
• Neither disavowed nor distanced himself from anti-Romney campaign ads which threatened or implied violence against Republicans.
• Shortly after the recent eruption of anti-American violence in North Africa, Obama went to Las Vegas to do his debate preparation in a hotel…with a romanticized North Africa theme.
• Said in an interview that the Muslim call to prayer was “the most beautiful sound in the world.”
• Union boss and far-left activist Andy Stern has visitied Obama in the White House at least 53 times, at last count — greater access than any other private citizen.
• Hosted at the White House many Islamist members of groups associated with Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood, etc.
• Sponsored performances by and attended fundraisers with radical rappers like Michael Franti and Common, both of whose lyrics have in some cases been anti-police, anti-white, and anti-America.
• Hired Timothy Geithner, who is documented as cheating on his own personal taxes, to be Secretary of the Treasury.
• Told Joe “the Plumber” Wurzelbacher that it was good to “spread the wealth around.”
• Told small business owners nationwide in a 2012 speech that “you didn’t build that” — implying that they should not claim credit for their own success, since taxpayers (i.e. themselves and other business owners) had funded the national infrastructure.
• Insulted the British people by rudely returning to them a bust of Churchill which previously had been a ceremonial gift on display at the White House; when later confronted on this inexplicable action, he lied about it.
• Canceled plans to complete a missile defense shield in Poland, a move which was highly praised by Russia and Iran — the very nations whose missile threats would have been neutralized if the shield had been completed.
• By loudly publicizing (for personal political gain) the identity of exact SEAL teams who had killed Osama bin Laden, Obama made them a target for reprisals by Islamists; a short time later 22 SEALS were shot down and killed in Afghanistan, their worst loss of life ever.
• Established an extra-Constitutional top secret “kill list” of people (including Americans) Obama claims the right to kill on sight, and then bragged about it publicly.
• Set up a special email account, “Flag@Whitehouse.gov,” to which Americans were supposed to inform the government of anyone they heard spreading “disinformation” about Obama’s health care overhaul. (This was the first of three different “spy on your friends and neighbors” programs.)
• “Attack Watch” was Obama’s second Big Brother attempt, a Web site on which you would report “attacks” on Obama’s proposals and ideology; it was quickly shut down due to outrage and mockery.
• Finally, Obama set up the “Truth Team” program which encouraged citizens to report to the government any friends or relatives they hear repeating “lies” about Obama. The Truth Team site still exists.
• Twisted the arms of defense contractors to not issue layoff notices in early November, so as to avoid causing bad news for Obama right before the election — even though federal law (the “WARN Act”) requires such notices.
• After the attacks on American interests in North Africa on September 11, 2012, Obama gave a speech to the U.N. and declared “The future must not belong to those who slander The Prophet of Islam” — transferring the blame from the attackers onto the makers of a film trailer that supposedly “offended” the Islamists.
• Repeatedly snubbed and got into public tiffs with Benjamin Netanyahu, who as the leader of Israel is supposed to be Obama’s closest colleague in international affairs.
• On May 19, 2011, Obama told Israel they must return to the 1967 borders as a pre-condition for continuing talks with the Palestinians — even though the status of the borders was the main issue the talks were supposed to address.
• Encouraged politically biased hiring practices in the Justice Department.
• Soon after taking office, Obama rescinded the “Mexico City Policy,” which previously had banned NGOs which are supported by American taxpayer funds from using those funds to perform abortions in foreign countries.
• Attempted to force returning veterans to pay huge increases for their health coverage…as a way to generate more funding for his Obamacare provisions.
• In June of 2011, he anointed his own underage daughters as “senior staff members” so that their vacation to Africa would be paid for with taxpayer money.
• Interviews with high school classmates revealed that Obama was a heavy and frequent user of marijuana in his teenage years (not to mention his self-admitted cocaine use in college).
• Played over 100 rounds of golf during his first three years in office, meaning that he was on the links close to 10% of the days he has been president.
• Voted to allow partial-birth abortions not just once but three times in a row as an Illinois state senator.
• The pastor whom Obama selected to give the national benediction at his 2009 inauguration recently declared that “all white people are going to Hell.”
• Sided with Hugo Chavez and the Castro regime regarding the Honduran Constitutional Crisis of 2009, the first time ever that the U.S. formed a political alliance with socialist governments in Latin America.
• Obama Administration OKed the nomination of Chas Freeman to chair the National Intelligence Council (which coordinates intelligence reports from all government agencies), despite the fact that he was openly hostile to Israel and strongly favored Arabist goals. (He later withdrew under pressure.)
• Chinese pianist Lang Lang played an offensively anti-American song at a 2011 White House dinner where Obama hosted Chinese president Hu Jintao, to the delight and amazement of the communist Chinese visitors, while Obama just sat there and smiled (the song’s Chinese lyrics describe Americans as “warmongering jackals”).
• There was a great deal of (still unverified) suspicion that the company LightSquared received favorable treatment from the Obama administration for approval of its broadband technology which interfered with the GPS system; an Air Force general claimed he was pressured by the Obama administration to downplay his criticism of LightSquared’s technology in sworn testimony.
• Obama’s Department of Energy awarded $529 million to Fisker Automotive to build their Karma hybrid electric cars — even though they are manufactured in Finland, cost over $100,000 each, and tend to explode.
• When Inspector General Gerald Walpin discovered during a 2009 investigation that one of Obama’s political allies (the mayor of Sacramento) was misusing government funds for personal gain, Obama unceremoniously fired Walpin — even though rooting out fraud was the job description of the Inspector General.
• More than once Obama made so-called “recess appointments” when the Senate was not actually in recess, which directly violates Constitutional rules about how appointments must be made; in each case it was his way of getting his political allies into certain key positions without them being vetted or approved by the Senate, as required.
• After Nidal Malik Hasan massacred 13 people at Fort Hood while shouting “Allahu Ackbar” so as to become a martyr for Islam, the Obama administration refused to classify his action as “terrorism” and instead deemed it merely “workplace violence.”
• Despite the fact that the Falkland Islands have been part of Great Britain since 1833 and that Great Britain is supposed to be our strongest ally, Obama essentially sided with Argentina in its new claim on the Falklands, not only by adopting the Argentine position that their status is open to negotiation, but even by (attempting to) refer to the islands by their Spanish name (Malvinas).
• Convened the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform (a.k.a. the Simpson-Boyles commission) in order to address a major economic crisis…and then summarily dismissed and ignored their recommendations.
• Criticized the Supreme Court’s legal reasoning (about the Citizen’s United decision) during a State of the Union address, which many considered a dangerous precedent as it appeared to place political pressure on the court, violating the Constitution’s separation of powers; but his bullying seems to have later paid off, when the Supreme Court apparently altered its Obamacare decision so as to not ruffle any political feathers.
• On April 27, 2009, Obama’s staff (possibly at his direction) ordered Air Force One to make an unnecessary very low flight over part of Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty, which many residents mistakenly assumed must be a second 9/11 attack in progress; turned out that it was just a stunt to get a photo op of Obama’s plane next to the Statue of Liberty.
• Obama somehow managed to insert mentions of himself into the official biographies of earlier presidents on the White House Web site — even presidents from the 19th century. After public outcry, the narcissistic Obama mentions were quietly removed without comment.
• Invariably and intentionally misquotes the Declaration of Independence in speeches, leaving out the words “by our Creator” in the famous passage “…are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights,” which Obama always recites as “…are endowed with certain unalienable rights.”
• In June of 2009, Obama’s Solicitor General (and now Supreme Court Justice) Elena Kagan filed a legal brief to prevent the families of 9/11 victims from appealing their lawsuits against the Saudi royal family for financing the 9/11 attacks.
• The 2009 National Christmas Tree in the White House was decorated with ornaments depicting Chairman Mao, a drag queen, and a picture of Mount Rushmore that included Obama’s own head next to George Washington’s.

Do RTWT, and don't neglect the comments, where others point out yet more destructive Obominations not listed!

Evil profiteers kick FEMA's ass

By way of Cold Fury, this little nose-tweak to the statist punks who are all "you hate da gubmint so you want people to die wah wah wah!!"

Disaster recovery requires nimble decision-making, flexibility, and money. The federal government has only one of those, and arguably none of them if you check out the debt. It is harmful to argue, as the NYT does, for a bigger and ever-less flexible system, ruled entirely by leaders in Washington and to poison the idea of states and private companies taking on larger roles. A federal budget line should not be the measure of success in disaster recovery (and if it is, maybe the paper should take that up with President Obama). If Waffle House spent millions yet served only 16 meals in stormstruck areas, we would never praise its efforts. Perhaps comparable standards are in order for the federal government.

Romney’s comments allow for any number of combinations in the Tetris game of private-public partnerships shown to actually help victims quickly. The NYT editorial attempts to make politically toxic any discussion of innovation in a field where lives and livelihoods depend on it. Which one is extreme?

We often hear from the president and his allies that “we’re all in this together.” America agrees, but to paint the federal government alone as the one true path to helping our neighbors ignores reality, eschews innovation, and ultimately hurts those we’re trying to help.
 

Do RTWT.  Yet more evidence that the People can do a far better job at damn near anything than government, even--maybe especially--because they're motivated by self-interest.

Chew on that.

Benghazi and Cross Border Authority

If you read nothing else about the subject, memorize this:

Did Obama Withhold Cross-Border Authority?

Please help me.

I am trying as hard as I can to get out the word about cross-border authority (CBA).

I just can’t believe reporters don’t know enough to ask the right questions! It’s infuriating.

Libya, as far as standing down the rescue, is 100% Obama’s show, and nobody else’s. Only he can grant CBA, not Biden, not Panetta, not Dempsey, not Hillary, and certainly not Ham in Germany.

The entire episode is explained perfectly inside the context of not granting CBA. The CIA QRF in Tripoli? No problem, send them on the local Tripoli station chief’s say-so. He merely informs up COC that he has done so. CCs them so to speak. "This is what I am doing." Ditto if Predators were in country, no problem using them.

But the big rescue air armada streaming toward Libya right away after the alarm got to Stuttgart and Africom? That has to stop. I believe at the 5pm meeting with Panetta and Biden in the Oval Office, he said, "No outside military intervention," on the basis that the last report was the "lull" from the consulate, at about 1030 p.m. in Benghazi, when the attack appeared to be over and the situation stabilizing.

(As a soft exception, Obama may have authorized sending an unarmed Predator from outside of Libya, but I am thinking the two Predators were already in-country, and hence available to use within "no CBA granted" rules.)

"No outside military intervention" equals "no cross-border authority" and that constitutes "standing orders" until POTUS changes them. Nobody else can "un-decide" the POTUS decree. The rescue air-armada of C-17s, C-130s and SOF helos like MH-47 Chinooks and Pavehawks cannot proceed directly to Libya without CBA being granted, so instead they are all staged at Sigonella, Sicily.

USN ships are in position to "lilypad" helos for long over-water flights. Airborne tankers are coming into position. SOF forces in Sigonella are going over their gear for different contingencies. Fuming all night as officers keep checking in with operational commanders. "Hold in place, no rescue yet. We can’t find the President, it sounds like," say the colonels to the majors and captains. 100s of military must know about this. I keep waiting for the conclusive whistle-blowers to come forward BEFORE the election. After won’t matter, it will be for the historians.

Panetta is falling on his sword for Obama with his absurd-on-its-face, "The military doesn’t do risky things" defense of no rescue. Panetta is destroying his future reputation entirely, to save Obama. The question is why? Loyalty?

Petreaus was probably "used" in some way early, about the supposed CIA intel link to the Mohammed video, and now he feels burned. So he conclusively said via his PAO, "The stand-down order did not come from CIA."

Well, what is higher than CIA? Only White House. Obama, nobody else. Petreaus is naming Obama without naming him.

Now, as far as Obama / Huma Abedin / Valerie Jarrett etc actually wanting Ambassador Stevens dead, to terminate the end of the very dirty Libyan arms to Syrian AQ programs, I can’t speculate. Obama is not competent enough, I’m thinking.

But for sure, the ambassador going to unsecure Benghazi on 9-11 of all days stinks to me of a setup. You can bet Stevens would have told the Turks, "No, 9-11 is not a good day for us," and stayed in Tripoli behind many high and thick walls. For him to go to dangerous Benghazi on 9-11 means the Turks totally insisted, but why would they care about the meeting date, unless they were in on a "hit" as the Judas goat?

Alternatively, ordering Stevens to meet the Turks in Benghazi on 9-11 may have come from down OUR chain of command. Stevens seems to have been wearing two hats as ambassador and CIA arms shipper. Moving between more-secure Tripoli, the Benghazi "consulate," and the CIA "annex." So orders to him might come down the State or the CIA commo channels, or both. I am unclear on his job title and true position, but either the CIA or State sends him final instructions. How this works with "dual-hatted" ambassadors, I haven’t a clue.

But Stevens meeting the Turks at the unsecure Benghazi "consulate" on 9-11 stinks to me of a deliberate setup. The Turks left the meeting and probably flashed their headlights to the attack team commanders lurking in shadows. A coded text, a word on a phone, meaning, "The ambassador is there, with minimal security: proceed with the attack plan."

That is all pure speculation. What I know FOR SURE is that the big "stand down order" issue revolves around granting or withholding cross-border authority.

Every SOF officer and ops officer all the way up has this drummed into his head. We can make Obama respond to this question, even if reporters must shout it at him while he’s doing storm cleanup photo ops. If the reporters KNOW enough to ask the quesion.

That’s why I am shouting all over the internet about CBA.

I can’t believe cross-border authority permission is not one of the top discussion points about Benghazi.

That, and who "set him up" by sending him to Beghazi to meet the Turks on 9-11, with them leaving after dark.
And of course, down the road, was the military rescue-in-progress turned back because Obama actually wanted to make sure the consulate was wiped out? Is that why the spooks at the annex were refused permission to travel the under one mile to intervene? That would connect it all together, but for now, the best focus is on Obama either granting or withholding cross-border authority for the rescue.

Feel free to repost these musings of a long-ago SOF officer anywhere you please.
Reposted in full.

Questions the LSM won't ask...

...because it's hard to ask anything with Obummer's ding-dong that far down their throat.  Luckily, someone's asking them.

Today is October 29. It’s been six weeks and our incurious press (apparently intuiting that if the administration first lied about the story and has now clammed up about it, it mustn’t serve Obama’s re-election efforts) is helpfully ignoring the story. The bird-dog press, who like to say the “comfort the afflicted and afflict the comforted” are doing nothing to make the president uncomfortable; they’re launching no investigations; they’re asking no questions, not even simple, obvious ones, like:

1) If no one gave an order to “stand down” who gave the order to “go save”?

2) If no one gave an order to “go save” just what exactly did the President, the Sec State and the Sec Defense do while they watched Benghazi burn over seven hours. There must be some paper trail, somewhere, that shows us that responsible action was taken, yes?

3) Did they all just vote “present?”

4) Why would you go to the UN, and lie about what happened in Benghazi to the whole world, even as your own spokespeople were admitting that the situation there had nothing to do with a damn video?

5) Was this a gun-running operation? Or some kind of October political theatrical gone bad?

5) People in your administration lied to the public. Should not a few resignations be on the president’s desk? Why isn’t the president asking for them?

6) Does lying not matter any more?

These are not unreasonable questions, and they’re the questions Brian Williams and Chris Matthews and the New York Times and every other news outlet would — quite justifiably — be asking of any other president, particularly if he had an R after his name. And yet, the press will not ask them of Obama.

RTWT.  Great questions, Ma'am.  And you'll get truthful answers from the Thug Regime right about the time Satan puts on a parka.

Enough already, Sandra.

This chick really needs to just STFU and go away.

Let me explain something to you, dear:  not buying you stuff is not the same as 'denying you access to it.'  I'm not being 'denied access' to a new Dyna Glide just because no one wants to buy it for me; I just can't afford it.  So if I want one, I either save my pennies or go into more debt.  Otherwise, I ride the bike I already have.

Lest you blow me off as another uptight prude, let me explain that I used to be such a slut that they wouldn't let me visit the Virgin Islands.  I've been around the block...a lot.  My list of partners is in the triple-digit range(whether yours is longer or shorter, I don't know, nor do I want to).

Yet, I'm childless and disease-free.  Why?  Because I used birth control.  Which I paid for, with my own money, because--unlike yourself--I was enough of an adult to realize that having sex was my choice, and it was my responsibility to pay for the consequences of making that choice.  I could either pay for medical treatment and/or child support, or I could take reasonable measures to keep that from becoming a necessity.  Otherwise, I could have kept it in my pants(which, in retrospect, was probably a better idea all around, but what's done is done).

There are things we have to do to survive.  We have to eat and drink water.  We have to sleep, we have to breathe, we have to go to the bathroom.  These things are requirements.  If we don't do them, we die.

Sex is not a requirement.

Contrary to the insistence of countless teenage boys, you're not going to die if you don't have sex.  You choose whether or not to have sex(and if someone's trying to force the issue, tell me who it is and I'll make 'em stop). 

Now, even as a recently-converted Christian, I figure whatever you get up to is between you and the Lord, and anyone who wasn't there shouldn't have a say in it.  However often and with however many consenting adults you choose to share your bed /couch/ bearskin rug/ backseat of a Volkswagen/ hot tub, and in whatever combinations and permutations you desire, are absolutely none of my business, or anyone else's. 

So stop making it my business, and get your hands out of my wallet.

In a related vein...

Paratus Familia elaborates on why we're so deep in trouble:

Every great nation in history has been founded on ideals. The United States was born in the minds of men long before the Revolutionary War was fought. The actual war was merely the physical manifestation of the convictions held by men intent on securing their freedom. Not only did our fore-bearers put their lives on the line for an ideal, they also scarified their fortunes. They saw past their own finite lives into the future of a nation. They believed that the ideals they held dear were more sacred than their money, their lives and even their families. They understood that men were created to live for something greater than themselves.

No excuse

Whether you believe in God or not, it's hard to deny the logic behind Ann's latest post.

Maximum Culpability: Why God's Wrath is Certain

Posted by Ann Barnhardt - October 28, AD 2012 8:23 PM MST

There are still people, millions and millions of them, who honestly believe that this nation, economy, culture, society, whatever you want to call it, is salvageable and can be turned around. There are still people who, after all of this, still think that ELECTIONS and Washington D.C. will lead us all to the Elysian Fields and pastures of plenty. These people honestly believe that Mitt Romney can and will "fix everything", even though Mitt Romney has actually implemented EVERYTHING people are screaming about Obama attempting, such as RomneyCare (which IS ObamaCare), insurance mandates, contraception mandates, zero-copay abortion on demand, sodomite marriage and assault rifle bans, and has yet to even acknowledge the mathematical impossibility of government spending. These people still believe that Darryl Issa and Allen West will suddenly re-assert the Rule of Law on November 7th, or something. You know, just like they swore up and down that these same people would "stop Obama" and "turn Washington around" after the 2010 elections.

Anyone who still believes this, very simply, has their head up their ass to their shoulders.

Not only will Mitt Romney, Darryl Issa, Michelle Bachmann and Allen West NOT do ANYTHING of any substance if "elected", they CAN'T do anything. It is already too far gone. The economy is MATHEMATICALLY IMPOSSIBLE to fix. $222 trillion in unfunded government mandates over the next 75 years. At minimum $1.4 quadrillion in global derivatives exposure. Thousands of MANPADS and millions of pounds of American weaponry are now in the hands of the Muslim Brotherhood / al Qaeda thanks to Obama's Libyan gunrunning. Iran will have an atomic arsenal, if they don't have one already, either self-produced or procured from Pakistan or the old Soviet arsenal. 60 million babies have already been killed. That blood is spilled. You can't ever bring them back.

Now to the point of this essay. God's wrath cannot be assuaged at this point because we, the people of the former United States and Western Civilization, are the most guilty, culpable, iniquitous society to ever exist by many orders of magnitude. In terms of our guilt, we are far, far guiltier than the people of late Rome. There were aspects of late Roman culture that were prima facie worse than our culture, specifically the torture blood sports, but we are far guiltier than the late Romans, and thus deserve far, far worse. And that is exactly what we are going to get.

How can we be orders of magnitude guiltier than the late Romans, or any other culture for that matter?

Because we are willfully ignorant due to extreme intellectual and especially moral laziness. If there was ever a group to whom the words "YOU SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER" applied, it is us. And we have absolutely, positively no excuse whatsoever for our ignorance.

1. We were a free culture. This isn't Saudi Arabia or North Korea, so save me your bullshit excuses. We have been free to read ANYTHING, learn ANYTHING, subscribe to ANYTHING. This has been the most licensed culture in all of human history. Male, female, white, brown, old, young, you name it. There hasn't even been a military draft in this country for forty years. We have had the near-universal societal leisure to pursue and ponder anything and everything. And we have chosen Honey Boo Boo, the Kardashians, and mentally retarded giants who chase balls in stadiums like dogs. We have chosen to be ignorant losers who revel and glory in our own inhuman stupidity, when we could have chosen to be excellent.

2. We are wealthy. We are the wealthiest culture ever to exist. In all other cultures poverty has meant starvation, disease brought on by filth, and daily hard labor just to survive. In this culture, poverty means that your TV is under 42" and that your ObamaPhone is running Android Version 3, not Version 4. No one starves to death here. People don't die from ingesting human fecal matter in their drinking water. The necessities are totally taken care of, and thus people are free to spend the vast majority of their lives at leisure. Even our jobs are leisure, because we all get to choose what it is that we do for a living. Neither family ties nor the government have mandated, under pain of death, what any of us do vocationally. Whatever it is that you are doing or have done vocationally, you chose it and consented to it, and you were free to pursue your own interests. Since our culture has been so wealthy, most people have been able to support themselves with a 40 hour workweek, leaving in excess of 40 hours per week for pure leisure, free to pursue and ponder anything and everything.

3. We could have been educated. We are not. Most people in this culture, even though education was possible, are totally uneducated, and contra-educated. I would classify this culture as "barely literate". People can read and sound out a small core vocabulary of words, but there is very little comprehension of what is read, and that which is read is either ignorant, insipid or morally degenerated. What people are almost universally incapable of and totally unwilling to do is think for themselves - not just to be spoonfed "answers", but to actually ponder and parse information, to independently synthesize data, make connections, and to think through logical progressions. I don't care how many bee-ess college degrees you have, because all "education" today consists of is pumping and dumping information onto multiple-choice tests and occasionally faking a short-answer or occasional paper. That isn't education. That's beta pack animals learning the gestures of submission to the alpha. This culture is operating just epsilon above the animal plane - and those are the "college educated" people. The inner cities are operating on the purely animal level. But we COULD have been the most truly educated culture ever.

4. Every single one of you reading this has the sum of human knowledge literally at his fingertips. The most damning aspect of the internet won't be the pornography, I suspect. The internet pins every single one of us into moral corner because it completely removes any ability to argue that "I didn't know - I didn't have the information."

I gave a priest a thorough rhetorical beating a few years ago because he said something really stupid in a public and official setting that could have been disproved and illuminated in about seven seconds with a simple google, or any search engine, query. Whether you are a priest or a professor, or a politician or a wild-eyed blogger, there is NO EXCUSE for making incorrect public statements, no matter how trivial. If you speak, you have a grave moral obligation to be right, that is to speak the Truth. The cascading consequences of factual and moral errors are massive and horrifying, and we will only see those consequences at the General Judgment. When you have the sum of human knowledge at your fingertips, and thus the potential to extrapolate BEYOND the sum of human knowledge, thus expanding the domain of human knowledge itself; when you have been given that ability and are still so lazy that you can't even get the already-known facts-at-your-fingertips right, there will be hell to pay for that sloth.

As an aside, I am at this point reminded of Leon Panetta's lame-ass lying excuse that no help was sent into Benghazi because they "didn't have enough information." As if a live, real-time video feed from a drone circling directly overhead "wasn't enough information". Leon Panetta is lying, and justice will be done upon him in this life or the next, but everyone else in this culture who tries to claim that "we didn't know" will deserve exactly the same wrath.

5. Finally, we have far more guilt and culpability than any other culture because we WERE a Christian culture and turned our back on God with full knowledge and conscious forethought. The Romans of the 4th century were pagans who either knew very little or nothing at all of Christ. They had the Natural Law as their only guide. We have Christ Himself, physically present in the Eucharist, with our culture *allegedly* built on Him, and yet we have utterly denied and rejected Him and have reverted all the way back to the worst pagan cultures. The only revolt that is worse in enormity and scope is the revolt of Lucifer. Even the Jews of the Old Testament in all of their many episodes of falling away from God, didn't have the knowledge of Christ (obviously, because the Incarnation had not yet happened) and did not have the Physical Presence of God Himself to be taken into their own bodies, in the Eucharist.

We have nailed Christ to the Cross, and when He looks at us and asks us why, we have the unmitigated gall to say, "It's not my fault. I didn't see You there. You should have spoken up."

WE are going to burn like no other culture has burned before, including Rome, because we have, by far, the most guilt. Ignorance due to laziness in the face of unprecedented freedom and license, wealth and leisure time, potential education, technology and availability of information, and the knowledge of and physical presence of Christ Himself is why we must and we will burn. No one has ever, ever deserved it more.

Yep.  By our own foolishness, ignorance and willingness to be led astray by mindless distractions, we have destroyed the very pinnacle of human achievement.  When we decided that convenience was more important than liberty, we killed this country. 

America's dead, and we have only ourselves to blame.  Me included.  And I fear that what's going to happen to us will make the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah look like a house party.

 

Let's eat!

By way of Fr. Z, we come upon Pass the Garum...and by way of that, we find Time Travel Kitchen.  Interesting glimpses into culinary history, and they're giving me ideas for my own kitchen experiments(which generally involve biohazard suits and the CDC being notified, but I'm trying).

Remember, folks, no matter how ugly things get, we're gonna have to eat until the Lord calls us home.  Knowing how to cook old-school (in the case of PtG, really old-school) could be a very useful skill.

It's getting real...

Our favorite spitfire has put her money where her mouth is...and so, the persecution begins.

Happy Birthday
Posted by Ann Barnhardt - October 27, AD 2012 9:41 AM MST

Today is my 36th birthday.

Today is also the day that the IRS confiscated my bank account. I think that is positively poetic. Now you people know why I keep saying that this website won't be around much longer and YOU will have to rebuild after the collapse and war. This isn't a game. This is completely, totally real.

I heard it said recently that saints are people who put their money where their mouth is. I hope that's right. I pray that's right.

Here is this morning's online image from my Wells Fargo personal checking account. I anticipate the business accounts will be drained early next week, too. I further expect that any monies that I attempt to deposit into any of my bank accounts will be swept by the IRS. They claim my "bill" is into the six figures, so $20,000 to them is just the very, very beginning.

They will also be coming after my car and my home.

I'm glad I bought a year's worth of freeze-dried food. Looks like I'm going to be needing it. But today, for my birthday, today will be a DOUBLE bacon cheeseburger day. And a strawberry malted.

Judge me, O God, and distinguish my cause from the nation that is not holy: deliver me from the unjust and deceitful man. For Thou art God, my strength: why hast Thou cast me off? And why do I go sorrowful whilst the enemy afflicteth me? Send forth Thy light and Thy truth: they have conducted me, and brought me unto Thy holy hill, and into Thy tabernacles. And I will go in to the altar of God: to God who giveth joy to my youth. To Thee, O God my God, I will give praise upon the harp; why art thou sad, O my soul? And why dost thou disquiet me? Hope in God, for I will still give praise to him: the salvation of my countenance, and my God.

Psalm 42 (Psalm 43 in Protestant Bibles)

Notice that Ann Barnhardt has never harmed anyone.  Never stolen a dime.  The worst she's done is express her opinions in a manner that is less than 'politically correct.'  Her only 'crime' here is following her concience and refusing in any way to support an unlawful and unGodly regime.

Anyone seizing the bank accounts of folks like Jon Corzine and all the other thieving scumbags who've financially pillaged millions of people in America and overseas?  You know, actual criminals who've done real harm to real people?  Are they going to wind up penniless?  Are they ever going to catch a glimpse of the inside of a jail cell?

Yeah.  Didn't think so.  Welcome to the Land of the Fee and the Home of the Slave.

Exactly!

By way of Kevin, a new blogroll addition.

Because this.

Basically, I figure guns are like gays: They seem a lot more sinister and threatening until you get to know a few; and once you have one in the house, you can get downright defensive about them.

Yep.

The costs of government: It'll make you sick

Reposted in full from our favorite spitfire:

On Defense Spending and Shadow Welfare

Posted by Ann Barnhardt - October 23, AD 2012 8:22 PM MST

It's amazing the things you can learn in a life if you just shut your piehole and listen. People ask me frequently, "How do you know all of this stuff?" This website is nothing more than the fruit of a life of near silence, which is required for listening, both auricularly and in the form of reading, which is the purest form of listening.

People look at the now-dead First American Republic's defense spending budget and despair. The amount of money being spent is massive and implies a massive federal income tax as a pure necessity in order to maintain any level of defense preparedness.

I have some good news (for a change) with regards to the issue of defense spending, and you all need to listen up because this will be another HUGE point to remember for after the collapse and war when you are rebuilding or building a new nation from scratch.

The major defense contractors spend at least ten times, and probably closer to twenty times what is actually needed on every project and contract. This is done with the full knowledge and at the command of the federal government.

The massive overspending is on man-hours. Major defense contractors such as Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumann, General Dynamics and Raytheon, in addition to supplying and developing technology for the military, are also massive middle-class shadow welfare projects. The top 25 US Defense companies directly employ roughly two million people. The top 5 US defense companies directly employ 550,000 people. Directly. This doesn't count the subcontractors to these companies.

These companies, as they operate today, have at least TEN LEVELS of largely unnecessary, redundant and even detrimental "management" between the scientists and engineers who are actually doing productive work and the actual upper management of the company. Further, these ten levels of "management" are each low six-figure positions. We're not talking ten levels of redundant janitorial staff at $12.00 per hour. We're talking TEN LAYERS of $100k-$250k positions.

And these people do basically nothing that is genuinely productive. In fact, they slow down the process of genuine development and productivity, hamstringing and bogging-down the work of the actual engineers and computer scientists who, ironically, dwell at the absolute BOTTOM of the corporate structure.

Because of this massive bloat in man-hours and horrifically reduced productivity, .gov is billed AT LEAST ten times, and it may be closer to twenty times, what it should be billed by these defense contractors to achieve the same results and innovation.

But before you pick up your torches and pitchforks, please understand that this is exactly what .gov WANTS. Like I said, this is all a massive middle-class shadow welfare system. The .gov explicitly drove these defense contractors into these uber-bloated management regimes in order to provide middle-class jobs. The sub-urbs of the Denver metro area and all other cities which have a sizable defense industry presence, are filled with these defense "management" employees. In other words, these are people who are totally dependent on .gov for their paychecks, and whose jobs are completely, totally unnecessary and have a negative net impact on productivity. Yay. Go America.

Defense is not the only area in the economy where these massive shadow welfare paradigms exist. As Warren Pollock pointed out in one of our YouTube conversations, almost all of the so-called "compliance" positions in the financial services and banking sectors are completely unnecessary and counter-productive. It could also be argued, and argued very, very well that around 97% of the accounting industry is also a .gov shadow welfare project revolving around nothing but the payment of federal income taxes, which shouldn't even exist in the first place. And finally, we should all understand that most of the health insurance industry is nothing but a .gov shadow welfare matrix. Health insurance should be catastrophic coverage only, and thus have an extremely small and streamlined back office labor requirement.

Why? Why did .gov do this? Because almost all of the true manufacturing jobs in the United States have been sent overseas. We MAKE very, very little actual, physical stuff here relative to population and consumption. This economy is now almost entirely a SERVICE economy. Sixty years ago all of the people who are today working in "management" in these defense companies and the other government-created shadow welfare paradigms were working in manufacturing, some in management, and some in actual fabrication.

From what I have heard, there are massive numbers of people working in these defense company management positions getting paid six-figure salaries who literally could not boil water or make themselves a peanut butter and jelly sandwich if their lives depended on it, and thus should be working on a low-skill assembly line somewhere, not browbeating Ph.D. engineers. I personally know that a large number of the people working in the financial services "compliance" regimes struggle to keep from drooling on their desks and when provoked have been known to throw their own poop.

The government created this shadow-welfare economy in order to replace all of the REAL manufacturing jobs that it consciously and willfully exported to China.

So, when it comes time to rebuild and establish a Department of War (not "Department of Defense") in the new Nation, these defense contractors will need to be told in no uncertain terms that there should be no more than three levels of management between the CEO and the engineer, and any contracts should payout as such. The only reason the defense contractors are creating these ridiculous management matrices is because the money is flowing from .gov to do it. Take away the money and the corporations will streamline almost overnight. Management levels 2-8 will suddenly, miraculously, almost as if in an epiphany, be recognized as non-essential. In doing this, you will be able to maintain technological and military dominance for a mere fraction of the cost. The talent is here. It can be done. The .mil thing isn't the impossibly large money-suck that it appears to be when you understand that the outflows to contractors are inflated by a factor of twenty.

Further, in the new Nation, whatever it is, you guys are going to have to start MAKING STUFF HERE AGAIN. Everything. Steel, electronics, textiles, furniture, vehicles, everything. Establish import tariffs which will generate revenue for the government and put Chinese slave labor behind the eight ball relative to domestic employment, productivity and manufacturing. The people who are currently employed in all of the shadow welfare industries I just mentioned will need jobs. Those jobs will be MANUFACTURING jobs.
 

This is what happens when you take away the relationship between performance and accountability.  It's why companies fail when they get too large, and it's why government should be kept on a check rein by those they supposedly 'serve.'

Raising awareness about 'raising awareness'

Is it just me, or are you all getting completely overwhelmed with all these ribbons, walks, campaigns, solicitations and protests over everything from cancer to general malaise?  The inimitable Marc MacYoung gives us a look at the Social Concience Industry, and why you should take all this stuff with a truckload of salt:

That's the happy version. Certain 'noble causes' have crossed the line, however, from simple spin doctoring. They've crossed into intentionally misinterpreting data, twisting statistics, and lying and redefining terms -- all to make the problem sound worse than it is. Not that the real problem isn't bad enough, but you need big numbers for it to be a 'crisis.' Hence the spin, number inflation, constant campaigning, and lying for a good cause.

By raising your awareness, I also can manipulate you into believing by donating money or walking for a cause it means you're participating in the solution. You're doing something about it. You're doing good by giving money. With this strategy, I can justify my career, protect my job, ensure my income, and excuse myself for all the spin, misinformation and lies I'm providing (it's for a good cause after all, and you don't need to know all the dirty little details about how it works). But most of all, I can justify all the money I'm diverting from getting to the people who need help.

All the while I'm doing this, I'm make a huge production about the good and noble things I'm doing for such a just cause. The warm fuzzy is not just for you, it makes me feel good about myself and all the good I'm doing. In the end though, I'm doing exactly shit about aiding the people who need the actual help. The individuals who are suffering from, dealing with, or facing this problem are not benefiting, I am. Now mind you, this isn't corruption. Oh no. It's jobs. It's what I am being paid for and spending money on to raise your awareness.
 

You REALLY should RTWT.  Long, but well worth pondering.

What about the CHILLDRUUNNN???

Yes, indeed...what about the children?

The enemies of liberty would rather have had a 12-year-old girl possibly raped and murdered than see her with access to TEH EEEVIL GUNZ OMG!!!oneone!!!eleventy1!!

Fortunately, young Kendra St. Clair did indeed have access to a gun, and a predator got the surprise of his miserable life.

Debra St. Clair, the girl's mother, said her daughter called her at work to say an unknown man was ringing the doorbell. When the girl didn't answer, the man went around to the back and kicked in the back door.

She told her daughter to grab the family gun, barricade herself in the closet and call 911.

...

St. Clair's daughter had hid in the closet with a .40 Glock.  But Undersheriff Ken Golden said the intruder kept making his way through the house.

"And what we understand right now, he was turning the doorknob when she fired through the door," he said.

Golden said the bullet hit the intruder, and it sent him running.
 

Very wise words concering the concept of 'childhood' in this context can be found at The Cornered Cat, a totally awesome blog which you should all go read now.

She's right, ya know.

Momma Fargo's been under some major stress of late, but her latest post drives home the point yet again(emphasis mine):

The reentry program here is a joke. It always has been and has been very corrupt. Inmates doing and making drugs at the facility, escapees, no accountability, no safety, lax monitoring. Joke, joke, joke. All the cops will say the same thing. All of this is shielded from the public. Why is it still here? Because it generates money. Money, money, money. Joke.

As I was getting ready for work and inching out of my driveway...this escapee was pulling a gun on my fellow officer...and another officer as I approached the station. They were a block away.

You can imagine my dismay when I was told there was a police shooting. It hit the public so fast, I think I had calls before I got into briefing. Want to know what is so great about this incident? In a matter of a week...this asshole felon murderer was able to get his hands on a firearm. That is another reason why people need to carry. Firearms are great and we need outnumber the felons with them. If more responsible citizens would carry...blam. Snuff out the competition. I digress.

Once you've RTWT, prayers and support for one of our favorite Peace Officers would be a Good Thing.

Collectivism is NOT America...

TL gives us another heapin' helpin' of brilliance. 

Liberty is the value of self. It is not a collective value. A collective value is the value of society, of the total. This is why it is so difficult to sell the children of the collective on the idea of liberty. They have been taught to fear it and as so many of our young adults are incapable of self-sufficiency, they lean toward the collective, without understanding the emasculation that comes with it.

Liberty is the ability to act within the constructs of one's physical presence without reaching another's. In older times it came with the ability to do with one's property what one wished, but that has been neutered by the same old concept of the collective. If one destroys their property, it affects the collective property value of a given neighborhood.

The collective sees objects as they are connected to others, not as they stand alone, individual. My house, my lawn, my garbage is no longer mine alone, but connected to those who might view it. This is largely where America has changed into something I do not understand, nor want to understand. It should be beyond the understanding of an American to entertain such concepts of society.

RTWT.  If TLiE isn't on your blogroll, you might want to correct that oversight.

The REAL Racists

What's depressing is that we can post the truth from now till Gabriel blows his horn, and as far as Progtards are concerned, it'll just fly in one ear and out their ass.

...You want to talk racism? Well, let’s talk about this:

It was Nathan Bedford Forrest, a Democrat, who founded the Ku Klux Klan.
Woodrow Wilson segregated Federal Buildings and jobs after 50 years of integration under largely Republican administrations.
It was the Democrat Party in the South that instituted Jim Crow Laws.
It was the Democrat Party in the South that instituted “separate but equal”.
It was the Democrat Party in the South that supported the Ku Klux Klan.
It was George Wallace and the Democrat Party in the South that said “Segregation Forever”.
It was Orval Faubus and the Democrat Party that wanted the Arkansas National Guard to enforce segregation, and Dwight Eisenhower, a Republican President, that sent the 101st Airborne to integrate the schools.
It was Bull Connor, a member of the Democrat National Committee, who turned the hoses on the marchers in Birmingham, and it was the Republicans who made up the majority that passed the 1964 Civil Rights Act, over the filibuster of such Democrat paragons as William Fulbright and Al Gore Sr. — and Grand Kleagle Byrd.
(And no, the Dixiecrats didn’t join the Republican Party – most of them remained Democrats.)
It was the Democrats who kept Grand Kleagle Byrd in the party.
It was Democrats who called General Colin Powell a “house nigger”.
It was Democrats who called Condi Rice — who grew up with and knew the little girls in Birmingham who were blown up, by Democrats — an “Aunt Jemima” and ran cartoons of her with fat lips doing Hattie McDaniel riffs.
It was Democrats, or at least Obama supporters, who called Stacy Dash a hundred different racist names for daring to leave the Democrat plantation.
 

 If I weren't completely burned out from the most stressful week of my life, I'd likely have something to say regarding how Conservative policies treat Black folks (and everyone else) like intelligent, capable human beings, as opposed to the Liberal view that Black folks (and pretty much everybody else excepting White hetero Christians) are too stupid and helpless to do anything without Big Daddy Government holding their hand every step of the way.

But I'm just too damn tired to think right now, so this'll have to suffice.

Light & Random

Got some stuff to take care of...blogging from the road for a few days if I have anything of relevance to post.

Brilliant!

An in-depth and entertaining fisking of yet another Marxist douchebag's whining, from Mr. R. J. Bidinotto(welcome to my blogroll, sir!):

From before the days of Marx, the left's zero-sum Narrative evades those questions and their answers. It evades the issue of production and those who make it possible: individual producers. In the progressive Narrative, they simply do not exist. Goods and services are simply here, like the fruit that appears each year on apple trees. As liberal pseudo-economist John Kenneth Galbraith wrote decades ago in The Affluent Society, "the problem of production has been solved"; the real problem now, he said, was "fair" distribution of what was produced. Likewise, to Barack Obama, since business people "didn't create that" wealth, the goal now is to "spread the wealth around." (Note: "the" wealth, not somebody's wealth.)

So what, exactly, is "the problem of production"? What was the "solution"? Who solved it? Don't they deserve to be compensated handsomely for solving it? And by what moral right does the tribe—which did not solve the problem of production—come in and seize the fruits of those who did?

None of these questions are raised or answered by progressives. Liberalism, socialism, "progressivism," Marxism, fascism—i.e., collectivism of any variant—all begin with the unexplained presence of wealth in the world; those who actually created it are causally irrelevant. After all, if "the" wealth is here causelessly, then those who have acquired a lot of it must be takers, not makers.

Well done, indeed.  RTWT.

Take notes.

Via Paco Enterprises, I present something that you might find of interest:

“Corruptissima republica plurimae leges. [The more numerous the laws, the more corrupt the state.]“ -Tacitus, the Annals ca. AD 69

The nature of what is ‘legal’ has become a truly bizarre concept these days. Developed nations of the west have hundreds of thousands of pages of rules, codes, regulations, laws, decrees, executive orders, etc., many of which are contradictory, archaic, and incomprehensible.

Across these ‘free’ nations, the law is selectively enforced, selectively applied, and completely set aside whenever it pleases the state. As such, even the most harmless of activities (operating a lemonade stand, collecting rainwater, etc.) can be cast as illegal… while the direct theft of people’s wealth through taxes and manipulation of the currency is considered legal.

...

Trying to change this system is a waste of resources. It’s a race that everyone will lose. Besides, you could spend your whole life lobbying to change one law, and by the time you succeed, they’ll have already passed another 10,000 new, even dumber laws.

Fact is, no one can do anything about this. Just like nobody can prevent Ben Bernanke from dropping money from helicopters. We can’t stop the price rises from monetary inflation, we can’t stop out of control spending (and theft) at all levels of government.

What we CAN do is take sensible steps to protect what’s ours… and then use their own stupid rules against them. It’s a much easier way to win.

You really want to RTWT.  It could give you...ideas.

Point to consider

I don't know if Ann is correct here...but would it really surprise you if she were? (Reposted in full)
Truly Scary
Posted by Ann Barnhardt - October 3, AD 2012 9:21 PM MST

I didn't watch the debate. I went over to a Friend's house and talked, read some Aquinas, and then talked some more. Then I went to Chick-Fil-A.

I find myself with an intense feeling of dread after reading the wrap-up comments.
Obama got his ass kicked, or to be more precise, kicked his own ass. From what people are saying, it seems clear that Obama did not prepare in any way, shape or form. More on point, Valerie Jarrett, Michelle Obama and David Axelrod did not force Obama to prepare. At all.
This implies two things. First, the "less-bad" implication:

No preparation was done because they know that the elections will be fixed and none of them care, least of all Barry who is a drug-addled imbecile and doesn't care about much beyond his next gram of coke and male fellation.

What really, really is bothering me and has me genuinely scared (yes, I do feel fear) is the fact that it can now no longer be denied that Barack Obama is worth more to his neo-Stalinist handlers dead than alive.

Someone has to say it. It might as well be me.

There has been buzz of a false-flag assassination attempt contingency plan among the Valerie Jarrett gang, but after this, I am genuinely scared that the false-flag assassination may no longer be a mere attempt, but a full-on JFK scenario.

Obama the man is now a liability to the putsch. These people are evil on a scale that most people cannot fathom, and Barry has only ever been a puppet and a tool to them.

Join me in praying for the safety of Barack Obama or whatever the hell his name is. He needs to be removed, arrested, tried and convicted for what he has done in the calmest, most orderly way possible. If his own handlers false-flag assassinate him, the entire world will fall into tyranny almost overnight, and my fear is that is exactly what they want, and they may be audacious and desperate enough to do it - especially after tonight.

Stay frosty. Pray hard.
I, for one, wouldn't put it past 'em. Getting up close and personal with evil is a horrible, life-changing, soul-scarring experience, but it prepares you to meet the tactics of the worst of mankind. And the worst of mankind is what we're up against.

Expect the worst. Then expect worse than that.

God help us.

Four highly worthwhile minutes

(HT Josh at The Conservative Treehouse)

Behind the useful idiots

Mark America deconstructs the motivations behind the Institutional Left.  This is so chilling, I should have probably saved it for a Halloween post.

I allow that we conservatives perceive their desires as being in spite of the facts because I firmly believe, and indeed now know that this isn’t the case at all: They know their system will result in disaster. They know their economic practices are lies intended to destroy the country. They know that their view of criminal justice merely lets criminals off the hook, while making their victims doubly accosted. They know all of this. I speak not of the useful idiots, who don’t know much of anything except that they want their “Obama-phones” or “Cash for Clunkers” or “EBT cards,” or their truckload of free contraceptives, or whatever they’re after on any particular occasion. Instead, I am talking of the cloistered, ivory-tower intellectuals of the left, who fancy themselves geniuses of social organization, but who without the forcing hand of government could not assemble an afternoon tea for lack of practical knowledge and experience. These are the people who sit about thinking over the problems of what to do with millions of intractable, un-rehabilitated conservatives and capitalists once the statists finally attain their end-to-end control. Their answer is the same for this problem as for any other: Death. Kill them.
 

RTWT.  This is the horror we find ourselves facing, backed by a horde of mindless, spoiled children in adult bodies.  This--submission or death--is what they have in mind for us.

And they're in charge.  Be afraid.  Be very afraid.

Thug Regime, folks...

...Cold Fury gets it. I get it. When are the sheeple going to get it?

That’s right, I said it. AP asks a most ridiculous question:

Given the insanity of the past two weeks, replete with the White House nudging Google to pull the video off of YouTube and the State Department running ads on Pakistani TV to apologize for a movie they had nothing to do with, I can’t quite believe the DOJ would risk the perception that they’re punishing this guy for a thoughtcrime unless something serious was involved. There has to be a real crime underlying this. Right?

Man, you gotta be kidding. Why would the wholly-corrupt Ministry of Justice care what anybody thinks about their lawless actions? Who’s gonna stop ‘em? What’s anybody gonna do about it? What’s happened to them in response to the other examples of their flagrant and obvious disregard for the rule of law under Obama the Great (Fast and Furious, NBP voter intimidation, refusal to enforce immigration law, et al)? What does this or any other out-of-control federal agency have to fear from a nation of benumbed and benighted ignoramuses, so deep in denial about the reality of their rogue government that they still can’t bestir themselves to even the slightest real concern over the direction in which we’re moving? What are we gonna do, baaaaa at ‘em with more vigor and tremolo?
 

Likely not until they're in a concentration camp detention facility reeducation environment.  Too late then.

I honestly don't know how to get the concept of thug mentality across to civilized people.  It's one of those things that are 'lost in translation.'  Let me quote the most relevant parts of Cold Fury's screed again:

Why would the wholly-corrupt Ministry of Justice care what anybody thinks about their lawless actions? Who’s gonna stop ‘em? What’s anybody gonna do about it?

That's the mentality.  I've said it repeatedly, and I'll say it again:  The rule of law is completely irrelevant to those running our country.  The rules of civilization are completely irrelevant to those running our country.  This pathetic reliance upon standards of decency, morality or legality brings to mind the old Robin Williams routine concerning unarmed cops in the UK:  "STOP!  Or I'll say 'stop' AGAIN!" 

We're being ruled by thugs.  A thug does what he wants, when he wants, and what do you think you're gonna do about it, bitch?  A thug is only deterred by the credible threat or use of overwhelming force at the scene and moment of the crime.  Nothing else works.  The threat of eventual consequences is nothing to a person who can't see past the next couple of minutes. 

If you're expecting this regime to abide by any sort of civilized behavior, or to 'play by the rules,' you are certifiably insane.  And I mean that in the most literal sense.

God help us.

Free advertising

Well, if NYC's MTA won't show this ad, then I will. 

 

 

Anyone offended by this, is cordially invited to put on their big-girl burqas and deal with it.

 



Call off the Search & Rescue teams...

...I'm still alive.  I've just been too fried to post a lot, since I just worked 56 hours this week.  I know it doesn't sound like much to some, but bear in mind I have a 90-mile commute on each end of the day.  When you leave for work at 0300 and get back at 2230, you're pretty much out of time to post anything--at least anything coherent.

And for this, I am truly grateful. 

I thank God every day for the job I have.  I thank Him for the opportunity to earn a good living through honest work.  I thank Him for the great people I work with, for the wonderful folks I meet during the course of my day, for the spellbinding scenery that I get to drive through and appreciate.  I thank Him, also, for the unpleasant people I encounter, as they help me develop my capacity for patience and understanding, which helps me be a better person and a better Christian.

I used to be one of those people who bitched about their job and their life, and only saw the downside of those things.  Now, when someone asks, "How's it going?" I respond, "Another day in Paradise!"

...and I mean it.  Sincerely. 

Why cats rock

Y'know, if you replaced 'cat' with 'Democrat' and 'dog' with 'Republican,' I'd think I was watching a LameStream Media newscast.


(HT BoB)

For them.

(via Lady Liberty)

Hey, kids...

...here's a little bedtime story just for you!

Preface: An entertaining bedtime story providing some fundamental lessons of life for your children, such as work ethic, honesty, responsibility, and simple business principles. Ages recommended: 6-10.

Once upon a time there was a fine young boy named Andy Workman who lived with his parents in Freedomville, a small town with a school, a library, a fire station, a police department, and many stores. In Freedomville, everyone was given an equal chance to work and live as they wanted to.

Andy was proud of his school. His teachers thought he was special as he learned his lessons quickly, studied at night, and always completed his homework on time. He also loved to read and went to the library regularly or visited the local book store. He was fond of books about adventure, travel to foreign lands, and humor. His favorite books though were about mechanics and how to build or fix things.
 

If you have little ones, I strongly recommend starting them early--they'll be facing a lot of indoctrination in today's world, and a strong foundation never hurts.

I don't get it either.

From TL in Exile...

These remarks show the very heart of this Administration. They display the hostility toward Christianity and the sympathy for the Islamic cause. I'm not sure how one who is a Christian can justify a vote for Barack Obama. I don't know how, having revealed his sympathy and support for Islam, a homosexual might vote for Barack Obama, unless it is with a blindfold and ear plugs. It has been proven time and time again that Islamic nations oppress and murder homosexuals, often subjecting them to mutilation and torture. I don't know how women, knowing the support Barack Obama has shown for Islam, a religion that denigrates women, that murders them for infidelity, that murders them for the clothes they wear and the things they say can support Barack Obama.

How is that possible? What sort of delusional mind-frame allows such duplicity?

The President of the United States and the Secretary of State are supposed to represent the interests of the United States, to stand up for its values, to support the views of its people. This shameful pandering to a violent religion over the freedom of speech of one of it's citizens is shameful. They have done nothing less than step in front of the mob and direct its actions against anyone who might oppose the violent suppression of free speech. They have done nothing but put themselves on the side of the Islamic hate-mobs against the very principles of American society.
 

 Emphasis mine.  I may be crazy, but Obamanoids are flat nuts.

Pat Condell for President!

OK, so he's a Brit.  So what?  We've already got a Kenyan in the White House, so since that whole "natural born citizen" thing is down the crapper, let's elect someone with common sense and brass balls.


We love ya, Pat.  Give 'em hell!

If you wear a badge...

...you should read this.  (All you goons at the TSA and other fedgov agencies, go find someone with a brain to read it to you.)

I heard it many times. Maybe you have also. "I'm not here to get killed. I'm going home at the end of my shift." I heard it so much and went off so many times on the utterer that those so inclined learned not to say such nonsense in my hearing. Because it is just that. Nonsense. Here's the bottom line if you're a cop and may Robert A. Heinlein forgive me for ripping him off so shamelessly.

If the situation calls for him to do so, it is absolutely a police officer's job to die in the line of duty. Blanket statement.

That's not an easy thing to write or say for a man who devoted so much of his life, sweat and blood to his chosen profession but that doesn't make it any less true. If the situation calls for you to spend your life in the performance of your duties then spend it you must or go find something else to do. A cop who is so afraid of death as to shoot wildly in a crowd is morally bankrupt and has no place in the pantheon of heroes who have gone before him. Simple as that. A police officer owes it to the citizens we're sworn to protect and defend and to the very profession that nurtures us and pays us and gives our life noble purpose. Every one else walking and driving and just standing around also wants to go home at the end of your shift and it's your job to ensure that they do so to the limit of your ability. It is not our job to kill people and break things. Sometimes we must do so but it's always the exception and not the rule. If we have to kill we have failed in our primary duty to preserve life.
 

This is from "Six," who "...spent 9 years as a soldier and 24 as a street cop. In both I was a firearms instructor and Field Training Officer (FTO) so I do know a little about this subject."  A scathing dissertation on cops and cowardice, and how the mix can only end badly.

Welcome The Warrior Class to my "Roll The Dice" blogroll.

Not Without My Chicken

Late to the party a little, but still funny as hell:



(Thanks, Merlin!)

Blast (off) from the past

I'm still wondering about that harmless airplane foreign missile launch off the California coast almost two years ago.  So are a lot of people:

And let me just get this out of the way right now; the simple and most obvious fact about this whole event is that the KCBS video records, of course, an actual missile flight. It cannot be an aircraft contrail, not unless that aircraft has a lit solid rocket motor strapped to it. As one engineer said about the video, “If anyone looks at that video and says it’s an airplane, they are either lying or stupid.” I could not state it any better myself, and I say that as a working aerospace engineer who’s career has been spent mostly on ICBMs, ICBM-derived launch vehicles and missile defense programs. If someone can eventually prove to me that this contrail is really from an airplane, then I will gladly buy them a house and a lifetime supply of beer. It’s that obvious, and I’ll attempt to make it more obvious to you in the remainder of this post.

This is one you need to read all the way through.  And if you haven't heard of this before, ask yourself why not.

Just a reminder...

I think this is a good start on US immigration policy.  Be sure to scroll down to see whose laws they're modeled after...

1. There will be no special bilingual programs in the schools.

2. All ballots will be in this nation’s language.

3. All government business will be conducted in our language.

4. Non-residents will NOT have the right to vote no matter how long they are here.

5. Non-citizens will NEVER be able to hold political office.

6. Foreigners will not be a burden to the taxpayers. No welfare, No food stamps, No health care, or other government assistance programs. Any burden will be deported.
 

If it's good enough for them, it's good enough for us.

The Libertarian Party needs to wake up.

Mr. Denninger continues his thoughts from yesterday's post(linked 2 down):

We can also have a fair political debate as to whether we should have foreign missions at all, and if so, where. That's fair game and a debate we damn well ought to have. We should couple it with our idiotic failure of an energy policy that has left us with the obligation to defend foreign energy access lest our economy instantly collapse. But that debate is difficult as the simple (and wrong) prognostications of many, including Johnson and (sadly) Ron Paul, disconnected from the energy situation, is untenable and thus either belies an unserious appeal to wingbats on one fringe of the party or another, or worse, a vapid lack of understanding of how we got where we are today. The latter, if true, is especially dangerous for someone who aspires to be Commander In-Chief.

But this latest series of actions by clearly-coordinated groups of militants leave no room for discussion or debate. Embassy land is sovereign US territory just as is, for example, the Egyptian Embassy in our nation is sovereign Egyptian territory. Both are established under bilateral agreement and long-standing International Law. A nation can expel another's ambassadors and revoke that agreement but until it does so via diplomatic channels the land on which that Embassy sits is not theirs, it's ours.

No nation exists if it will not defend its soil.
 

I wonder if anyone in the LP realizes just how many more people would be in their corner except for their stupidity concerning foreign policy?

I'm all for individual liberty, and--in theory--anarchy would be a great thing.  You know, I don't tell you what to do, you don't tell me what to do.  I respect your property and liberty and you respect mine.  If we want to get something done through cooperative effort, participation is strictly voluntary, not forced by some goverment agency.  Great idea, right?

But this could only work if every single person were committed to those principles.  They're not.  Not even all Americans agree with this, let alone the rest of the world.  There are people, cultures and nations that want power over others, and these are what we must defend ourselves and our civilized allies against.  If we do not defend America--the only nation founded upon the principle of individual liberty--then freedom dies.  If we do not defend our culture, our country and our Constitution, and back up those who support these things, Earth will fall to abject tyranny faster than anyone dreamed possible.

That's where too many of my fellow Libertarians are wrong.  They fail to see that not all countries and cultures are equal.  Those who support us, need our support in turn, and those who are actively hostile to liberty must be met with determination and strength.

Come on, Ronulans...just do that final bit of growing up, for all our sakes.