People often say, "There are two types of people . . ." and they are correct. Ultimately, despite whatever iterations and variations of the phrase that people are most fond, it really comes down to optimism and pessimism.
Conservatism is the label we give to the ideology, mindset, world view, or whatever you choose to call it, of those who are basically and fundamentally optimistic. This optimism lends this optimist, or conservative, or whatever you choose to call him/her, to believe and know that they can do for themself and place a higher value on their freedoms and liberty than on reliance of a greater force. The optimist is sure in making decisions and has the confidence to make those decisions.
October 26, 2009
The Highest Paygrade and Low-brow
The debate - well, really it was more an interview - with Rick Warren will not soon be forgotten. It will be remembered, I think, for one thing in particular: Barack Obama's claim that he is not qualified to express an opinion as to when life begins because it is "above his pay grade." To me, as much as any other thing he has ever said, that statement reflects the quality of Obama's character and that he will always seek the path of least resistance. Now that he holds the highest "pay-grade" on all of the earth, I very much want to hear his answer to that very same question. The issue, though, runs tangent to abortion and valuing life; it is the matter of presidential etiquette regarding his new pay-grade. Perhaps Emily Post should have written a book just for presidents.
Recently, Obama & Co. lined up their jumbo jets and zipped over to Copenhagen. While there, the CINC found a whopping twenty-five minutes to spend with his top commander in Afghanistan – it was a side mission, really. The true purpose of his trip, made with his wife and Oprah Winfrey, was a mission of the gravest importance: to bring the 2016 Olympic Games to Chicago. (Cue the timpani drums and dramatic organ.)
Recently, Obama & Co. lined up their jumbo jets and zipped over to Copenhagen. While there, the CINC found a whopping twenty-five minutes to spend with his top commander in Afghanistan – it was a side mission, really. The true purpose of his trip, made with his wife and Oprah Winfrey, was a mission of the gravest importance: to bring the 2016 Olympic Games to Chicago. (Cue the timpani drums and dramatic organ.)
October 23, 2009
Where are all the Feminists?
Somewhere in the world a woman is about to murdered in the name of honor and we hear only silence in the surrounding moments. Somewhere in the world a woman is being made to walk a short distance behind her husband for the sake of propriety and we hear no mega-phoned objections. Somewhere in the world a little girl is killed because of population restrictions and her parents prefer a little boy. Somewhere a woman is beginning her eighth pregnancy during which she has contracted the HIV virus and the silence we hear is shocking.
Actually, there are plenty of activists, media personalities, average Americans, and organizations who oppose and speak loudly against these commonalities . . . just not the American Feminist Movement. But, shouldn’t feminists be leading the charge? And, perhaps, it is only me who is shocked by the astounding silence – else, the call to marshal the Feminist Movement would resound throughout all American Media.
Actually, there are plenty of activists, media personalities, average Americans, and organizations who oppose and speak loudly against these commonalities . . . just not the American Feminist Movement. But, shouldn’t feminists be leading the charge? And, perhaps, it is only me who is shocked by the astounding silence – else, the call to marshal the Feminist Movement would resound throughout all American Media.
September 29, 2009
American Rescue Efforts
The United States does, in fact, need another national bailout. It doesn't need to fire up the printing presses at the Treasury Department, though. Instead, the form of the next and only needed national bailout must begin with these measures:
Guarantee that the federal budget will be, at a minimum, balanced after the first year and creating a surplus for every year thereafter should the next president's - it's safe to assume President Obama will not be the one do so - agendas be adopted by Congress. If Congress fails to adopt this strategy, then he/she will hold the budget hostage so that, at the worst, the budget will be held at the previous administration’s spending level and cannot be increased. The value of the dollar has been plummeting and will continue to plummet with every penny spent in the red. As the American economy is the engine that makes our way of life and freedoms a possibility, focus must be sharply directed at reducing the nearly twelve trillion dollar debt to a level below two or three trillion dollars. This will increase the value of the dollar tremendously while re-establishing and anchoring the world’s faith in the dollar’s stability. Spending cuts, not taxation increases, must be the machine by which this spending mania be stopped else the economy will ultimately be stifled rather than stimulated.
The corporate tax rate must be cut drastically. A rate of thirty-five percent is a punishment on our corporations and has driven businesses of all types to seek less demanding climates elsewhere. The key to relieving ourselves and the economy of the current recession has never lain with printing trillions of dollars, which only serve to further devalue the dollar. The key is to foment the continued and increased creation of wealth. As is natural to the business cycle, unemployment will always exist to some degree. There is no need, however, to ever see unemployment rates in the ranges in which they now exist. The return of exiled corporations and creation of new corporations due to a low corporate tax rate of around ten to fifteen percent will erase the excess of the unemployed and generate similar, if not greater, revenues in federal taxes. The United States of America cannot afford to continue to allow the hemorrhage of our corporations to other nations. The status quo is untenable for the future security and prosperity of Americans and their freedoms.
Guarantee that the federal budget will be, at a minimum, balanced after the first year and creating a surplus for every year thereafter should the next president's - it's safe to assume President Obama will not be the one do so - agendas be adopted by Congress. If Congress fails to adopt this strategy, then he/she will hold the budget hostage so that, at the worst, the budget will be held at the previous administration’s spending level and cannot be increased. The value of the dollar has been plummeting and will continue to plummet with every penny spent in the red. As the American economy is the engine that makes our way of life and freedoms a possibility, focus must be sharply directed at reducing the nearly twelve trillion dollar debt to a level below two or three trillion dollars. This will increase the value of the dollar tremendously while re-establishing and anchoring the world’s faith in the dollar’s stability. Spending cuts, not taxation increases, must be the machine by which this spending mania be stopped else the economy will ultimately be stifled rather than stimulated.
The corporate tax rate must be cut drastically. A rate of thirty-five percent is a punishment on our corporations and has driven businesses of all types to seek less demanding climates elsewhere. The key to relieving ourselves and the economy of the current recession has never lain with printing trillions of dollars, which only serve to further devalue the dollar. The key is to foment the continued and increased creation of wealth. As is natural to the business cycle, unemployment will always exist to some degree. There is no need, however, to ever see unemployment rates in the ranges in which they now exist. The return of exiled corporations and creation of new corporations due to a low corporate tax rate of around ten to fifteen percent will erase the excess of the unemployed and generate similar, if not greater, revenues in federal taxes. The United States of America cannot afford to continue to allow the hemorrhage of our corporations to other nations. The status quo is untenable for the future security and prosperity of Americans and their freedoms.
Hero Worship
If ever there was a single word that could link the X-Games to ancient Greece it must be “epic.” Picture Odysseus, sporting linen robes and leather sandals, nailing a wrong-footed 900 during the medal round of the half-pipe jam session . . . everyone there hailing the moment as being “epic” just before taking a long pull from an energy drink.
Awesome, radical, wicked, cool, and, of course, epic are all tired examples of adjectives that have taken on new meanings very different from their original ones. Everyone can provide an example of such bastardized words that annoy them in particular. Linguists will tell you that languages are fluid and ever changing however much we may wish otherwise, that the younger generations will always change some aspect of the common culture so as to find a point of delineation between them and their parents’ generation. Language is one such aspect susceptible to their changes. Some words, though, cannot have multiple meanings because they serve such very important roles in our society. Such important words include “guilty,” “innocent,” “oath,” “duty,” “legal,” “illegal,” et cetera. “Hero” is a label I’ve heard and seen all too often, in literally every form of news and entertainment media, since the attacks on September 11th.
In my days as an enlisted soldier, I had the honor and pleasure of being in attendance when all the surviving Medal of Honor recipients gathered in Arlington Cemetery. And, yes, I would like to emphasize “recipient” because no one “wins” the Medal of Honor; it’s not a lottery. Every bit of those medals is earned. The point being that those men are heroes because they have acted heroically. It seems that any person who flashes across the television screen these days is labeled a hero as long as they are dressed in some sort of military uniform. As a former soldier, let me issue the guarantee to all those who hold a contrary notion that there are a great many men and women in military uniforms are anything but heroic.
Awesome, radical, wicked, cool, and, of course, epic are all tired examples of adjectives that have taken on new meanings very different from their original ones. Everyone can provide an example of such bastardized words that annoy them in particular. Linguists will tell you that languages are fluid and ever changing however much we may wish otherwise, that the younger generations will always change some aspect of the common culture so as to find a point of delineation between them and their parents’ generation. Language is one such aspect susceptible to their changes. Some words, though, cannot have multiple meanings because they serve such very important roles in our society. Such important words include “guilty,” “innocent,” “oath,” “duty,” “legal,” “illegal,” et cetera. “Hero” is a label I’ve heard and seen all too often, in literally every form of news and entertainment media, since the attacks on September 11th.
In my days as an enlisted soldier, I had the honor and pleasure of being in attendance when all the surviving Medal of Honor recipients gathered in Arlington Cemetery. And, yes, I would like to emphasize “recipient” because no one “wins” the Medal of Honor; it’s not a lottery. Every bit of those medals is earned. The point being that those men are heroes because they have acted heroically. It seems that any person who flashes across the television screen these days is labeled a hero as long as they are dressed in some sort of military uniform. As a former soldier, let me issue the guarantee to all those who hold a contrary notion that there are a great many men and women in military uniforms are anything but heroic.