To that end, I find it very fitting that just one week ago this evening (as is nearly the case every four years), participatory politics determined the next course for the nation and made history at the same time. I know that some folks are exceedingly happy and others are fairly dismayed. I'm just kind of ambivalent. As is frequently the case, I see the potential for good policy AND/OR bad policy over at least the next four years. I know that many on "the right" think that Obama will veer far left and guarantee the GOP a win in four years but I'm not so sure. The world will probably not end (unless the Mayans were right) so hopefully we will see.....
I just read the headline "Christian right intensifies attacks on Obama"....
One thing that it references is a COMPLETE WORK of fiction entitled "Letter from 2012 in Obama's America". If you want to peruse this ABSOLUTE PIECE OF TRIPE, click here. I thought this could be made into a killer movie. Someone should start fleshing out the screenplay. I thought that one of the funniest things about this was the statement at the very end.
This letter may be reproduced without change and in its entirety for noncommercial and nonpolitical purposes without prior permission from Focus on the Family Action."
What the hell is the purpose of the letter in the first place? The entire thing has one and only one aim: politics. First of all, much of this is NOT the change that Obama seeks. Focus on the Family is using EXTREME hyperbole and illogical extension of Obama's known policies to hoodwink folks into believing that God is going to damn Christian folks who vote for Obama STRAIGHT TO HELL. Where the hell is Pat Robertson when you need him? He'd probably tell you that God was planning a Category 1,000,000 hurricane if Obama wins on November 4. Granted, the minds of those who receive this junk are probably already made up. I seriously want the hallucinogen that was being used by the folks who concocted this cockamamie piece of CRAP.....
Buck the establishment - vote Barr or Baldwin or Nader or McKinney
I'll start this off with my favorite. Here's some recent Bob Barr video:
Now onto "the maverick". One thing (other than the experience factor he constantly brings up about Obama) McCain often brings up is the absolute necessity of victory in Iraq and how his major opponent didn't support the surge. McCain would NEVER EVER support a timeline. However, one interesting piece of news in recent days is that the final details of a semi-"status of forces agreement" were hammered out between the US and Iraq. Lo and behold, one of the details contained therein is kind of a timeline (looking out to 2011). I wonder what McCain thinks of that. Regarding the surge thing (which was where all of this was going anyway), McCain knocks Obama on it often. The surge itself seemed like a tacit admission that there were NEVER enough troops to FULLY COMPLETE the mission in the first place. In fact, I hope that future administrations remember the lessons of cases like that of General (ret.) Eric Shinseki. Another facet of the "surge" discussion? I was listening to a story about how the US pays money to a number of the "Al-Sahwa councils" in Iraq and how that duty is being transferred into Iraq hands (with what I believe to be Iraqi funds). The US military folks discussed in the story had some concern because some people in the Iraqi military didn't seem to believe the urgency of continuing the program. Ironically, payment to back these Sunni militias started around the end of 2006/beginning of 2007. We were paying folks who were involved in the insurgency. I'm absolutely sure that these payments also had to do something with the downturn in violence in the country through 2007. We were paying people to not perform criminal acts. It will be interesting to watch what develops with the transfer of responsibility for payment into Iraqi hands. Will the money continue to flow? If it doesn't, will there be an upswing in violence? What other factors played into Iraq becoming seemingly more stable over the last 1.5 years? McCain's continued rhetoric regarding the largely irresponsible conflict seems to hold less merit as time goes on....
It was a happy time to see the close of the last of the Presidential debate for this election cycle. This debate, of course, brought more of the same old discussions and half-truths. I don't think McCain succeeded in his promise to whip Obama's "you know what". McCain did a little better this time around but not necessarily well enough to overcome the inertia of the numbers game that we've seen over the past few weeks. Heck, it doesn't matter who wins anyway. They're just opposite sides of the same old weathered coin and though they've both bandied about talk of "change", Washington will still remain largely out of touch in many ways. That's especially true if you're inclined to the Libertarian line of thinking like me.....
We've never tried a recipe from Martha Stewart before this evening. I saw a recipe for "Cheddar Topped Shepherd's Pie" in a Martha Stewart magazine and thought we should try it. The normal cook of the family brought up making some Zatarain's dirty rice but I suggested that we try this shepherd's pie. We used several shortcuts that cut the time in about half. I made the "Spinach, Mushroom, and Red-Onion Salad" to go with dinner. I think I liked dinner better than the wife unit (1 each) because I had two FULL plates and I still saved some leftovers.....
Wayne Root was on Fox News again this past Monday. Check it out:
the "you know what" whipping is just about to start. Don't worry about me, I've taken my Vivarin.......
Sadly, I doubt we'll ever see a third party candidate at these debates again unless the candidate is some kind of celebrity already with a coherent message (hence name recognition and potential electability to boot). Check out Bob Barr's "Counter-Debate" here...
We've been waiting for the Mexican restaurant in the new (and smallish) shopping center right around the corner from our neighborhood to open for a number of months. It finally opened on Monday. I considered going the day it opened, but the wife unit (1 each) was in Florida and I had other stuff to do. However, she got back today and we went to try it out this evening. It's called El Olmeca......
We enjoyed it! If you're in the area, give it a shot. Mmmmmmm, that means restaurant quality margaritas and Mexican food within walking distance. Excellent!
Today's political advertisement.....
Bob Barr on CNN's "Situation Room"
I was interested to see that I received a letter from Senator Jeff Sessions regarding my request that he vote against the "bailout". I was very happy to see that Senators Sessions AND Shelby held their ground and voted against the package the first time around and the second time as well. I suppose that we'll start to see some results within a few weeks or months, but the implications and results will probably take several years.....
Well, I'll probably check out the last snoozer (oops, I mean Presidential debate) on Wednesday night. Old Johnny Mac promised to "whip Obama's you know what". I'm sure the same old tired soundbites and vague half-truths will find their way into this back-and-forth as well. On the other hand, I can handle watching the debates better than SOME FOLKS I KNOW.......
I don't claim to be a great cook, but I whipped up a BBQ chicken calzone this evening that was TOTALLY kickin'.
OK, next I think I'll try to provide a VERY simple answer about why I consider myself a Libertarian.....
Folks often ask me why I'd vote for Libertarians when they have no chance and then proceed to suggest voting for the "lesser of two evils". They'll definitely have no chance if people who generally believe in Libertarian principles and policies vote solely based on who is going to win. As for the "lesser of two evils", I will vote for my general principles. At the heart of the matter (for me) is one simple philosophy:
I TRULY believe that most people can live their own lives and make their own choices without excessive government (federal, state, local) intervention in the freedom to make those choices.
We are lucky enough to live in a place where we are extraordinarily free. But, we can always get better. I consider this especially true after the last eight years!
As we know by now (for those who mind that sort of thing), the last time a third party candidate was included in a Presidential debate was in 1992. Bob Barr had an interesting method of getting his word out as an alternative to the debate. Here's a Q&A session with questions submitted via the internet:
I think he's doing it right. Now here's someone who (hey, just my opinion) is doing it ALL WRONG. Maybe I don't "know" the things she "knows", but there's been so much CRAP spread about the Senator from Illinois that I wouldn't have the slightest doubt if some of the info the "letter" she speaks about is infused with the dominant "internet lore" propaganda.
Last words? Something else done right....
I already knew that Lindt made excellent chocolate. A friend had mentioned something about chocolate infused with chili pepper and I knew I had to try it. I found some when I went to the store the other day. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm! I didn't expect excessive "heat". There was just the faint aftertaste of heat. However, I wouldn't necessarily take my word for it. My taste buds are probably desensitized to a lot of that hot stuff. Anyway, the chocolate left a nice warming sensation. Heck, I think I'll eat a square or two right now.
They are testing a new Gmail feature (you have to turn it on) to help you make sure you want to send that e-mail if you might be slightly blitzed or not thinking straight. They call it "Mail Goggles"....
We tried the Athens location of Village Pizza with some friends this evening. We arrived fairly early. That ended up being a good thing because by the time we left, folks were waiting outside to be seated. There's more space in the Athens restaurant AND they serve beer. The food was great (not unexpected)! If you live in Athens, give Village Pizza a shot. Here's the map again:
I think that Sarah Palin did OK. I say OK because I don't think it was exceptional. She may have "saved some face" given some recent trouble, but I don't think she came anywhere near hitting it out of the park. To me, she seemed more engaging than Joe Biden, but not extraordinarily more. Both sides did OK with the standard party talking points (and half-truths). Hey, what's to be expected, the VP is essentially a glorified cheerleader anyway, right? However, all that being said, I'm glad I'll be voting for Bob Barr. McCain isn't a far cry from George Bush and, sadly, Sarah Palin reminds me more of George Bush (philosophy) than John McCain. As for Obama-Biden....YUCK!!!
The Senate voted yes on the "investment"/"bailout" and it's looking as if the House will vote yes as well. Why is the bailout DANGEROUS for American national security?
Let's not forget, the statutory limit on the public debt ceiling will be going up to $11.3 trillion under the current "Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008". Here's a history of the changes to the statutory limit on the public debt from the United States Code. The page (or the various other government pages) doesn't have the $10 trillion (9.815) limit enacted last year......
Now back to probably one of the bigger matters at hand...
My take on the "new and improved" bailout plan is that it's still a "cow patty". In fact, this one's even sillier. It's still designed to help the banks and raise the public debt but the "new and improved" version includes some tax breaks and other beans to appease the GOP and the Democrats. As a Libertarian, I'm all for tax breaks, but they are CRAP if you don't curb government spending. I tend to supplement my thoughts with links to professionals who believe the same thing. Sorry....
I'm not necessarily happy about the economic downturn that will inevitably follow, but this provides a little bit of breathing room for the Congress to clear their heads and THINK if they (and hence, WE THE PEOPLE) want to dabble in excessive state meddling in the business process with taxpayer money. Additionally, the original package would have raised the public debt ceiling to 11.315 trillion dollars. It was just raised to 9.815 trillion dollars in September of 2007. So, as part of the 700 billion dollar package, this administration (and McCain and Obama if you accept their tepid support as legitimate) and 205 House members wanted to raise the future taxation burden on you and your children and your grandchildren and your great-grandchildren (and so on and so on) by 1.5 trillion dollars. When does it end? I was never overly happy with the Clinton administration but at least the budget was balanced for a few years (on paper, at least). Those folks in DC right now are kind of scaring me! What a time for a protest vote...
Other stuff? We enjoyed finding Village Pizza (East Limestone location) and dining there occasionally. FWIW, the East Limestone location has a presence on MySpace.
It was VERY cool to hear that they had opened a new restaurant in Athens, AL. I believe that the address is 222 W. Market St. Athens, AL. It's the northeast corner of the intersection of W. Market St. and N. Jefferson St.
Barr was so right to call both of the major party candidates out on the "politics as usual" attacks on fluff when they needed to be addressing issues like the ones that have led to the "necessity" for a big government bailout plan like the one we are hearing about now.
I've mentioned CRS reports here at least once or twice before. There's some decent reading about the events of the past week at a subsite of the State Department. Another decent spot to find some CRS reports is the Naval Postgraduate School's library site. Click here and then click the digital archive link near the top of the page. That will launch a new window with various electronic media links. One of them is titled "Congressional Research Service Documents". That's the link you'll want to click.....
One of the members of Congress holding out on the Bush administration's version of "ze plan, ze plan" is Senator Richard Shelby. I absolutely believe that he's doing the correct thing in this case. His position can be viewed here and he provides a link to a list of over 200 economists who want, at the very least, a reasonable discussion of the policy issues and effects of the proposed dramatic government intervention in the market.
Our silence about any other particular government law, regulation, ordinance, directive, edict, control, regulatory agency, activity, or machination should not be construed to imply approval."
