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January 30, 2004
"October Surprise," Anyone?
How can they possibly know how soon he'll be captured unless they either (a) know exactly where he is and are waiting for the most politically opportune moment to pick him up or (b) already have him and are waiting for the most politically opportune moment to pretend to capture him? I hesitate to join the conspiracy theorists who have already offered up scenario (b) as a possibility, but this article certainly makes that more plausible.
Whichever scenario turns out to be true (assuming that they aren't just bluffing or that bin Laden doesn't escape the clutches of our oh-so-effective government), I'm betting on late October to be the time bin Laden is captured (or "captured"). Anyone want to lay odds on this?
Posted by Mike Tennant at 09:09 AM | Comments (279)
Here We Go Again
The warmongers at WorldNetDaily are trumpeting "evidence Syria received Iraqi missiles and WMD in late 2002 and early 2003."
"What is this evidence?" you ask.
"The evidence includes satellite photographs of Iraqi convoys believed to be bringing missiles and WMD into Syria as well as assertions from Iraqi officials that ousted leader Saddam Hussein ordered such a transfer."
Well, that proves it! After all, we didn't have satellite photos from Colin Powell which showed the exact locations of all the WMDs in Iraq (or, for that matter, photos prior to Gulf War I that showed Iraqi troops massed on the Saudi Arabian border), nor did we have assertions from Iraqi defectors that such weapons existed and that Iraq/al-Qaeda connections existed. We really have proof this time!
Come off it, guys. All your stories about Iraq's WMDs and terrorist connections have been show to be so much fabrication, so now you're trying to push the Iraq-shipped-weapons-to-Syria story as a way to get around the lack of evidence for your original tales of doom.
It's hard to tell whether Colin Powell can be believed, but according to the same article, he said, "I have seen no hard evidence to suggest that is the case, that suddenly there were no weapons found in Iraq because they were all in Syria. I don't know why the Syrians would do that, frankly, why it would be in their interest. They didn't have that kind of relationship with Iraq." Funny how WND takes him at his word when he says what they like (that Iraq is just loaded down with WMDs) but treats his comments as suspect when he doesn't.
Posted by Mike Tennant at 08:56 AM | Comments (192)
January 29, 2004
Another Day, Another $20 Million
Remember when Republicans were going to eliminate the National Endowment for the Arts, among various other government agencies (the Dept. of Education, the EPA, etc.)? Well, those days are well and truly gone.
Bush is now going to seek the largest increase in NEA funding in two decades, in the neighborhood of $15-20 million.
Discussing this on his show today, Rush Limbaugh professed to be stunned and confused by the continual betrayals of Bush's supposed conservative beliefs--beliefs which Limbaugh assured his listeners were deep-seated in Dubya back in 2000. Of course, anyone with an ounce of intellectual honesty would have no trouble understanding it at all: Bush is not conservative.
One might think that the fact that Bush has done next to nothing that could be considered conservative when it comes to domestic policy would therefore cause people to recognize that his foreign policy doesn't qualify as conservative, either. That, however, has yet to sink in. The same people who recognize that government usually--I would say always--makes a hash of things at home somehow think it can work miracles abroad, with no unintended consequences. Until they come to grips with the fact that war is a left-wing, big-government policy, they'll stick with so-called conservatives like Bush who do everything they profess to hate at home so long as they wage tough-guy wars against perceived enemies abroad.
Posted by Mike Tennant at 01:28 PM | Comments (248)
How About Pursuing the Real Threat?
Has anyone seen that new Navy recruiting poster, the one that shows an aircraft carrier cruising in the open sea, vigilantly searching for purveyors of "evil chemistry," under the catchy slogan, "Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of all who threaten them"? I was wondering if that carrier could slip up the Potomac and point those guns down Pennsylvania Avenue. After all, the captain of that ship and his crew would only be doing what's most highly prized by members of our armed forces - following orders. Where else can they find the greatest threat to life and liberty in the world?
Posted by Harry Goslin at 11:50 AM | Comments (249) | TrackBack
January 28, 2004
Co-ed Naked Seating: It's the ONLY Way to Fly!
"Two senators said on Tuesday that the Transportation Security Administration should reconsider its policy of allowing butane lighters and matches in the cabins of passenger airliners," according to this CNN story.
"Democratic Sens. Ron Wyden of Oregon and Byron Dorgan of North Dakota said they're concerned that terrorists could use a disposable lighter or a match to ignite improvised explosives, such as jackets or pillows that have been chemically treated."
Well, senators, what if a person carried two sticks onto an airplane and rubbed them together? What if he took a small piece of flint and some metal and struck them together to produce a spark? What if he used a magnifying glass to generate a flame from the sunlight coming in the windows?
The only way to be certain that no one takes anything even remotely dangerous onto an airplane is to require everyone to fly naked, without carry-on luggage, and to submit to body cavity searches beforehand. Otherwise there will always be some element of risk involved. Better yet, if you really want to eliminate the risk, just outlaw flying! It's dangerous enough in and of itself.
Posted by Mike Tennant at 02:27 PM | Comments (217)
Vote for Bush Because. . .Well, Just Because
In contrast to this excellent and principled column by Jonathan David Morris, we have the spectacle of Bobby Eberle writing that Bush is the only choice for conservatives come November because, as bad as he is, any of the Democrats would be worse. I suppose this isn't surprising considering that Eberle is the president and CEO of GOPUSA, but it's still striking.
After admitting that Bush is responsible for offering virtual amnesty (which, he notes, "potentially weaken[s] security [and] reward[s] illegal behavior") and for increasing spending at a rate "double that of the Clinton administration," Eberle then turns around and tells us that the Democrats would be even worse. How? By making "widespread amnesty...the policy of choice" and submitting big-spending budgets. But, Bobby, those are precisely the Bush policies, and you've just told us that Bush has increased spending faster than yesterday's evil bogeyman Democrat!
Of course, Eberle's support of Bush really comes down to two things: (1) He's running the war on terror (which Eberle fails to note is another point of contention for some on the right) and (2) He's a Republican. In fact, just drop point (1). We should vote for Dubya simply because he has an "R" next to his name and because the guys with the "D" next to their names would somehow be even worse.
I'll take Jonathan Morris any day.
Posted by Mike Tennant at 11:34 AM | Comments (210)
America the Unfree
So Heritage/WSJ claims we're the 10th freest nation? Seems their calculations overlooked a few details that Paul Craig Roberts brings to light.
Dr. Roberts writes:
Compare an American taxpayer’s situation today with that of a 19th century American slave. Not all slaves worked on cotton plantations. Some with marketable skills were leased to businesses or released to labor markets, where they worked for money wages. Just like the wages of today’s taxpayer, a portion of the slave’s money wages was withheld. In those days the private owner, not the government, received the withheld portion of the slave’s wages.Slaves in that situation were as free as today’s American taxpayer to choose their housing from the available stock, purchase their food and clothing, and entertain themselves.
In fact, they were freer than today’s American taxpayer. By hard work and thrift, they could save enough to purchase their freedom.
No American today can purchase his freedom from the IRS.
There's much more to our enslavement than the damnable income tax, but it's role in funding the big state makes countless other intrusions possible.
Posted by George F. Smith at 09:55 AM | Comments (236) | TrackBack
January 25, 2004
C.S.A. and Che
From a New York Times article about the Sundance Film Festival:
"That night IFC Films also bought the fake documentary 'Confederate States of America,' which projects what would have happened if the South had won the Civil War." Somehow I don't think it will have a favorable view of the Confederacy.
Also, "Those bought include 'The Motorcycle Diaries,' a poetic account of the political awakening of the revolutionary Che Guevara, by Walter Salles ('Central Station'). Focus Features snapped it up after a bidding war on the night of its premiere....After the premiere of 'The Motorcycle Diaries,' a Spanish-language film starring Gael García Bernal as the charismatic Che, distributors hovered in the lobby, clutching their cellphones, making bids. At the after-screening dinner party for the filmmakers, David Linde, co-president of Focus Features, wandered in to make a personal appeal to buy the film. He then perched with his executives at the restaurant's sushi bar, while other distributors hovered in corners."
Posted by Rob at 03:14 PM | Comments (325) | TrackBack
January 23, 2004
David Is O-Kay
In contrast to the president's State of the Union claim that the Kay report showed "dozens of weapons of mass destruction-related program activities and significant amounts of equipment that Iraq concealed from the United Nations" (a pretty vague reference with lots of deniability built in) and Dick Cheney's insistence that the "jury is still out" on Iraq's alleged WMD programs, David Kay himself, who recently resigned from his WMD-hunting post, says that Iraq never had any of these stockpiles or large-scale programs.
"I don't think they existed," Kay said. "What everyone was talking about is stockpiles produced after the end of the last (1991) Gulf War, and I don't think there was a large-scale production program in the nineties," he said.
Kay deserves some credit for his honesty considering that he was a true believer in the WMD allegations prior to his posting to Iraq. At least he's willing to admit what the preponderance of the evidence shows, even if it doesn't fit with his preconceived notions.
Anyone want to take bets on how long it will be before the adminstration attempts its Paul O'Neill smear tactics on Mr. Kay?
Posted by Mike Tennant at 08:02 PM | Comments (129)
January 20, 2004
Bush Campaign Slogan: "Putting Iraqis Back to Work"
"Coalition to create 50,000 jobs in Iraq" is the misleading headline of this story.
"The US-led coalition unveiled a series of multi-billion-dollar reconstruction schemes on Monday to create 50,000 jobs across war-battered Iraq in the wake of violent demonstrations by the country’s disaffected unemployed.
"The 2,300 projects worth 12.4 billion dollars are also aimed at rehabilitating Iraq’s electricity, water, oil, health and transport infrastructure, David Nash, director of the coalition’s programme management office, told a news conference."
Now, just where do you suppose the "coalition" is going to get that $12.4 billion? Hmm??? Naturally, it's going to come out of the pockets of hard-working Americans, and it's going to go into the pockets of well-connected corporations like Halliburton.
In addition, of course, government can't "create" jobs. All it can do is transfer jobs from the productive private sector to the nonproductive public sector. For every job that Uncle Sam creates in Iraq, he has to take the money to pay for it from Americans who could have spent it here at home, thereby creating jobs in America. Instead, politically connected corporations and Iraqis will be handed the stolen money for "reconstruction," which will no doubt include many New Deal-style "make-work" jobs.
Then again, this shouldn't be a big surprise: Republican Representative Mac Collins of Georgia wrote just over a month ago that a "WPA jobs program similar to America's during the Great Depression is needed in Iraq."
*Sigh* Such are the vagaries of running an empire.
Posted by Mike Tennant at 03:26 PM | Comments (117)
January 19, 2004
A Birthday Present for the General
Charleston, South Carolina, is the best-mannered city in the country for the ninth straight year! (The hacks at CNN try to give the city government's "livability court" credit for this, but since the court has only been in existence for two years, that obviously can't be the case.)
Is it any wonder that Lee would choose to fight for, among other things, the most well-mannered city in the country, which also happens to be where the War for Southern Independence began?
Posted by Mike Tennant at 03:04 PM | Comments (163)
GeneraLee Speaking, Let's Party!
Since today is Robert E. Lee Day (a fact of which we Yankees-by-birth-only are seldom aware), it seemed only right to post a few links to articles expounding upon the greatness of General Lee, so here they are:
"Remembering Robert E. Lee"
"Grant vs. Lee"
"Remembering Lee" (all by Gail Jarvis)
Meanwhile, for a start on why the guy most people think should be celebrated today deserves not to be celebrated, here's Marcus Epstein's "Myths of Martin Luther King." Epstein provides plenty of links for those interested in a more detailed deconstruction of "Dr." King.
Now get out there and celebrate! Don't just whistle "Dixie"; sing it out!
Posted by Mike Tennant at 02:56 PM | Comments (142)
January 16, 2004
Is War Necessary?
Harry Browne says no, and very convincingly. (Link courtesy Antiwar.com.)
"Is war necessary?
"For Americans, no.
"Is war inevitable?
"For Americans, yes — so long as we give politicians the power to meddle in our lives and in the lives of foreigners."
Posted by Mike Tennant at 10:35 AM | Comments (122)
Mad Scramblers
"U.S. and Canadian military aircraft have scrambled nearly 1,700 times to intercept or divert suspicious aircraft since Sept. 11, 2001," and not once did they actually stop an attempted terrorist hijacking. Nevertheless, "officials point to [this] fact" as proof that "the country's air safety net is getting improved marks."
Well, at least they're doing something ...
Posted by Mike Tennant at 09:24 AM | Comments (134)
A Cure Worse than the Disease
There's an educational debate in the Blog at mises.org over free trade, and Paul Craig Roberts gives the most eloquent argument for protectionism I've read to date. The gaping weakness I see in his argument, however, is that he believes the immoral syndicate that rules us can do one better than economic law. If an impartial well-intentioned Athena came down from Mt. Olympus to personally arbitrate each and every decision of which body gets to swap what with whom, a free human might pause to consider the notion before kindly turning her down. But GW and Chuck Schumer's toadies running the show? We'd be two generations away from living in boxes and scratching in the mud.
Posted by Robert Jackson at 01:59 AM | Comments (150) | TrackBack
January 14, 2004
Corroboration for Paul O'Neill
ABC News has found an official to corroborate Paul O'Neill's allegations that the Bushies were planning to attack Iraq from the beginning of the administration. (Link courtesy Antiwar.com.) Naturally, the official "asked not to be identified." Having seen the administration drag O'Neill's name through the mud, I don't blame this "official."
It's getting harder and harder for the White House to deny this. Look for more--and dirtier--dirty tricks in the near future.
Want to know why O'Neill was really fired in the first place? His opposition to tax cuts was far from the only reason. More likely it was his generally straight-shooting, no-nonsense opposition to government intervention. See this 2002 article by Ilana Mercer. (Suggested by a LewRockwell.com blog entry by Thomas DiLorenzo.)
Posted by Mike Tennant at 10:53 AM | Comments (111)
January 13, 2004
Shalom, You Say? Only Sharon's Way
Probably having been forced by syndication contract to print this sensible column on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by Arnaud de Borchgrave, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, our local Scaife-owned paper, apparently felt a great need to balance out de Borchgrave's less-than-Zionist opinions with not one but two items on the same page.
Right smack in the middle of de Borchgrave's column they plastered a cartoon which they dug up from last June, entitled "The Only Road Map to Peace" and depicting a giant bulldozer with Ariel Sharon's face pushing all the Palestinians into neighboring countries. (You can see it here if you scroll down a little and click on the 6/6/2003 Only Road Map to Peace link.)
Then, at the bottom of the page, they added a "Quote for a Tuesday" from this column by FrontPageMag's John Perazzo: "There is good reason to question ... whether (a Palestinian state) would inevitably amount to nothing more than yet another breeding ground for worldwide terrorist activities ... ."
We wouldn't want folks getting any ideas about the Palestinians being human beings, too. Now would we?
Posted by Mike Tennant at 09:03 PM | Comments (172)
What Is Anarchy?
Butler Shaffer has the answer, and it's a good one.
"'Anarchy' is an expression of social behavior that reflects the individualized nature of life. Only as living beings are free to pursue their particular interests in the unique circumstances in which they find themselves, can conditions for the well-being of all be attained. Anarchy presumes decentralized and cooperative systems that serve the mutual interests of the individuals comprising them, without the systems ever becoming their own reasons for being. It is this thinking, and the practices that result therefrom, that is alone responsible for whatever peace and order exists in society."
Posted by Mike Tennant at 01:37 PM | Comments (225)
January 12, 2004
Power corrupts
From columnist Paul Jacobs' Common Sense, 1/12/2004:
"Mr. Appearance of Corruption"Lord Acton said: "Power tends to corrupt, and
absolute power corrupts absolutely."Meet Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska, who spent the
last 36 years in the U.S. Senate. He's chairman of
the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, where
all our dough gets doled out.In 2002, his campaign spent $2.8 million against an
opponent that spent $893 and some-odd cents. In 1996,
he had no major party opposition at all, but spent
$2.7 million to run for reelection.Don't get the idea that Stevens' fundraising has put
him in power. Clearly, it is the reverse -- that
power has put money in his pocket. And arguably, more
important to him than campaign funds, power has made
Stevens a millionaire. Personally.The Los Angeles Times detailed sweetheart deals and
no-risk investments, with huge payoffs for Stevens,
who steered hundreds of millions in government funds
to these same business partners.It smells to high heaven, but Stevens is so powerful
with control of the pork other senators want, and
known to be ruthless, there may not even be an ethics
investigation.And what does the McCain-Feingold campaign finance
law say about Senator Stevens's wheeling and dealing?
Well, nothing. The law doesn't bother Stevens in the
slightest.However, McCain-Feingold does forbid groups from
telling the people of Alaska about this in any ad
mentioning the powerful Senator's name, or showing
his likeness, within 60 days of the election.That's the McCain-Feingold method of removing the
appearance of corruption: enforced silence.
Nothing like having good men in high places.
Posted by George F. Smith at 07:03 PM | Comments (127) | TrackBack
"Vengeance Is Mine," Saith Dubya
The trashing of Paul O'Neill for his audacity in telling the truth about the Bush administration's war plans continues.
"'We didn't listen to [O'Neill's] wacky ideas when he was in the White House, why should we start listening to him now,' said a senior official."
Also from that article, the attempt to change the subject to the "good things" the administration has done continued:
"'I enjoyed my times spent with Paul O'Neill and I appreciate his service,' [Commerce Secretary Don] Evans said. 'But we continue to stay focused on jobs for the American people, growing this economy, and the results are proving that the president's policies that he's been leading on are working.'"
Of course, they're also hoping to shut O'Neill up by threatening him with an investigation into how he got some of those supposedly secret war plans--er, documents--out of the White House.
Notice that there has still been no official denial of any of O'Neill's allegations.
I should've waited a few days before writing my column on the similarities between Clinton and Bush damage control. Bush's methods are looking more like Clinton's every day.
Posted by Mike Tennant at 04:48 PM | Comments (243)
January 10, 2004
Yeah, We Lied About That, Too
And the lies continue to unravel before our very eyes.
Now Condi Rice says that the United States does not "have any indications that I would consider credible and firm that" Iraq shipped its alleged stockpiles of WMDs to Syria prior to the U. S. takeover.
Add that to the following other events of the week: the withdrawal of weapons hunters from Iraq, the reports showing that Iraq's arsenal never existed, Powell's admission that there was no hard evidence of a link between Iraq and al-Qaeda, and O'Neill's charge (see below) that the White House was planning to take over Iraq prior to 9/11 (something which was rumored but for which there was little conclusive proof before). It all adds up to a very bad week for the Bush administration and its neocon friends and enablers.
If lying about sex with an intern was grounds for impeachment (and I think it was), then surely this ought to be, too. Unfortunately, we know which party controls both houses of Congress.
Posted by Mike Tennant at 09:35 PM | Comments (151)
The Smoking Gun - Paul O'Neil
Report: Bush Planned Iraqi Invasion Pre-Sept. 11
Bush should be impeached. This is the smoking gun to do it. I hope the family members of every dead american soldier are the first in line
Posted by David Wiggins at 03:04 PM | Comments (242) | TrackBack
On this date in 1776 . . .
An Englishman published an anonymous pamphlet in Philadelphia that stirred the colonists to declare independence from the British government. Though the pamphlet was the 18th century's bestselling work, the author saw not a penny of the proceeds.
Posted by George F. Smith at 12:28 PM | Comments (125) | TrackBack
Soon They'll Be Bragging About It
Evidence cited of Russian arms in Iraq
Just like the US government brags about how they aided the mujahadeen in Afghanistan. The US started crowing a safe period after the USSR left Afghanistan with their tail between their legs.
Nations never learn because power corrupts
Posted by David Wiggins at 11:48 AM | Comments (154) | TrackBack
January 09, 2004
My Favorite Martian
Let me get this straight:
1. Every year the federal government runs deficits in the tens or hundreds of billions of dollars.
2. The national debt is well into the trillions of dollars.
3. The Constitution does not authorize the federal government to undertake space missions.
4. The "conservative" president, George W. Bush, therefore wants to spend "nearly a trillion dollars" (and that's almost certainly an underestimate) to send people to Mars and the moon and build a permanent station on the moon.
I have a good suggestion for who should be the first passenger to Mars. Once Bush is done bringing "freedom and democracy" to the rest of the world, it seems only natural that we should send him to Mars to bestow those same blessings upon that planet.
Posted by Mike Tennant at 09:57 AM | Comments (423)
January 08, 2004
Iraq's Arsenal Was Only on Paper
Check out this Washington Post article. No wonder they're oh-so-quietly recalling the weapons search team.
Remember how Bush was going to return honesty and integrity to the White House? I guess the Secret Service wouldn't let him return them without receipts.
Posted by Mike Tennant at 03:35 PM | Comments (241)
Turning the Paiges of History
The secretary of education (an unconstitutional position if ever there was one) for the supposedly conservative Bush administration "took a broad swipe Wednesday at critics of the administration's education overhaul, saying opponents of it will fall on the wrong side of history along with those who fought desegregation in schools 50 years ago." Apparently, the "wrong side of history" is simply the side that lost, whether or not that side was correct. By this definition, of course, all of those who died in a losing battle for independence from tyranny, along with those who supported them, are also on the wrong side of history.
Paige is correct to assert that "the No Child Left Behind law is a logical extension of Brown v. Board of Education." Brown was a constitutionally abhorrent decision by a left-wing Supreme Court which paved the way for the federal government's ever-increasing intervention in the education system. (Regardless of the quite proper opinion that states shouldn't be involved in education, either, at least they have the constitutional prerogative to run schools.) The No Child Left With a Mind law only further digs Uncle Sam's claws into the system. It's no surprise, then, that the Bush administration not only pushed for the law but actually touts it as a great achievement.
Posted by Mike Tennant at 01:36 PM | Comments (131)
January 06, 2004
Another Day, Another False Alarm
Yet another terrorist airplane plot turns out to be false. U. S. fighter planes escorted a flight from Paris to Cincinnati because a woman on the plane was wearing a heated jacket, and the ever-so-conscientious security screeners tagged her as a possible terrorist because they spotted the wires. (It wouldn't have done simply to examine the jacket and let her pass. We have to make an example of her, after all.)
A couple of weeks ago we had six Air France flights cancelled on false alarms; and we've had British Airways flights held over terrorist concerns, although those, too, will probably turn out to be government screw-ups.
How long will people continue to put up with this nonsense? Perfectly harmless, law-abiding citizens have had to endure enormous delays and invasions of their privacy while Osama bin Laden roams about the countryside recording audiotapes. I guess this is supposed to show us that the government is "doing something" while we're on Orange Alert. What it's doing, unfortunately, is stripping us of our freedom while allowing real criminals to go free.
Posted by Mike Tennant at 04:28 PM | Comments (254)
January 05, 2004
Draft Creep
Now the Army is preventing soldiers from leaving active duty
Remember the old term "sneaky tax increases" used to describe tax bracket "creep" or the way inflation forced everyone into higher tax brackets. It was a way for the government to raise taxes without seeming like they were raising taxes. Now it seems we have a "sneaky draft" or "draft creep"
Here's a question for all the soldiers subject to "draft creep". If you were one of those who felt they were opposed to the war, but "knew what they were getting into when they signed up," what do you do now?
You did not sign up for "stop loss," on the contrary you did sign up for a limited term of service. what is your excuse now for following orders in a war you consider to be immoral? Is the big bad soldier a scared fof what will happen if he takes a moral stand and refuses orders?
Posted by David Wiggins at 09:57 PM | Comments (240) | TrackBack
January 04, 2004
So why don't we return to gold?
In December 2002, at the Economic Club of New York, Fed chairman Alan Greenspan said:
The price level in 1929 was not much different, on net, from what it had been in 1800. But, in the two decades following the abandonment of the gold standard in 1933, the consumer price index in the United States nearly doubled. And, in the four decades after that, prices quintupled. Monetary policy, unleashed from the constraint of domestic gold convertibility, had allowed a persistent overissuance of money.
Quoted in Financial Reckoning Day, page 270.
Posted by George F. Smith at 07:52 PM | Comments (176) | TrackBack
January 03, 2004
Iraq Becoming More Like America Every Day!
A new AP video shows US soldiers firing at the backs of fleeing demonstrators in Iraq. At least 3 demonstrators were killed and 2 others wounded (all shot in the back, no doubt, as the video will show.)
As one commenter noted, "It's like the Miami protests, with tracers whizzing past people's heads."
In another sign that "we" are bringing American-style democracy to Iraq, the CPA has announced that a permit must first be obtained before any further demonstrations will be "allowed." As someone who has personally been threatened with arrest for attending an "illegal assembly" here in the land of the free, I'm heartened to see that "our" efforts to "democratize" Iraq in America's image are succeeding. I wonder if Al-Qaeda will start hating the Iraqi people for their new-found freedom, too.
Posted by Andy Henke at 09:26 PM | Comments (229) | TrackBack
January 01, 2004
Green Eggs and Spam
The great Lew Rockwell really does strike the root with this article on the essence of the state, using the new anti-spam law as a jumping-off point. This one is definitely worth your time to read and is also concise and direct enough to make a good pass-along to your non-libertarian friends. (Link, of course, courtesy of LewRockwell.com.)
Posted by Mike Tennant at 09:01 PM | Comments (517)
Die in an SUV
From The Daily Reckoning of 12/02/03:
These are not reckless kids who don't know any better, she went on to say [referring to middle-age and elderly investors]. They are people lured by economists and trapped by the credit industry. 'Go out and buy a new SUV,' we recall [Dallas Fed governor] Robert McTeer urging consumers, 'preferably a Navigator.'And why not? If you're going to blow yourself up, you might as well do it in the comfort of a luxury road hog.
Who can help feel a little sympathy for them? The little lambs have been led to the slaughter by their own shepherds at the Federal Reserve. Now, the wolves over at E-Z Credit Lending Center have their chompers into them.
Never before have conditions been so perfect for turning consumers into dead meat. As interest rates came down, they were able to take money out of their houses...and still make lower mortgage payments. Car companies helped out, offering bigger guzzlers at higher prices - while also lowering monthly carrying costs.
And then along came the Bush Administration with its own contribution to consumer insolvency: wars and tax cuts. The wars silenced conservative critiques, distracted the public from its balance sheets and gave the nation a sense of collective purpose. As for the tax cuts, we never met one we didn't like, but we're having doubts about this one. Evidence coming in from recent months suggests that consumers took the money as though it was a gift from heaven. So buoyed were their spirits that they spent it all...and borrowed more!
Take out the effects of the tax cuts and extraordinary auto incentives and the GDP grew only 2.2% in the 3rd quarter, says yesterday's news. But credit card, non-revolving and other consumer debt rose at about 10% - or 4 times as fast.
Abolish the Fed and restore the gold standard.
Posted by George F. Smith at 03:48 PM | Comments (252) | TrackBack
The REAL Person of the year
Time magazine awards that honor to the American soldier. Here's why:
They swept across Iraq and conquered it in 21 days. They stand guard on streets pot-holed with skepticism and rancor. They caught Saddam Hussein. They are the face of America, its might and good will, in a region unused to democracy. The U.S. G.I. is TIME's Person of the Year.
American soldiers are courageous and obedient to a commander-in-chief who ordered them to attack a country that attacked us on 9-11 and was about to attack us again, whose people were ruled by a brutal despot it was our duty to remove.
A less-visible person of the year might be Alan Greenspan, for keeping the government's printing presses running white-hot to help pay for all the free stuff we get, like foreign invasions, airport security, and prescription drugs. And soaring stock prices to make us all rich.
Still less visible but no less important are the countless economists and economic commentators who assure us that unbacked government paper is the way to go. Cranks who think otherwise just don't get it.
And if we're going to hand out praise, why not honor the people who produce things that raise our standard of living? Think of all the legislation, executive orders, and free money government issues that make our lives incalculably better. The real Person of the Year, from TIME's perspective, is our salutary federal government.
Posted by George F. Smith at 11:39 AM | Comments (338) | TrackBack