Rants and Raves.......

On the Prez: The Prez hasn’t held a press conference since July....what a pussy......

On Healthscare: Rep. Anthony Weiner (pronounced Weener or Whiner) (D-N.Y.) issued a statement, saying the Senate is being “mean”, and referred to Harry Reid as “Mr. Poopy Pants”....maybe he didn’t say that, but he could have....

On Healthscare 2: We will all see, very soon, who has brass balls and who does not........Maybe Madam Pelosi fancies herself as bullet proof, but what about the rest? Joyce Jr. thinks not.....when standing on the edge of the political abyss in a mid-term election cycle, nobody jumps.........

On the GOP: Massachusetts State Attorney General Martha Coakley blamed GOP “stalkers” today for triggering tensions outside a Washington, D.C., fund-raiser last night where a Weekly Standard reporter said he was roughed up.......she was mistaken, there are no Republicans alive who have the stones to rough up anybody.......except maybe
Gov. Perry of Texas..........


On Aliens and Lumberjacks: NASA reportedly photographed 'trees' on Mars. The “trees” are actually debris from an avalanche, NASA says........sounds like time for a multi billion dollar Federal investigation....
I think SOMEBODY knows the real story.......


On The Patriot Act: An (8) year old New Jersey boy is on the Terrorism Watch List. Apparently he shares a name with a foreign terrorist....Homeland Security overlooks a guy with C-4 in his boxer's. When it comes to Cub Scouts, they don't miss a thing...........

On The Prez 2: A new musical set to open in Germany is called "Hope -- the Obama Musical Story"........whatever...........


On Hollywood, Avatars, and Patriots: The script, in its entirety, is out for “Avatar”. Here’s a portion: “............ troopers issue automatic weapons and magazines to a long line of mine workers. The miners lock and load like the red-blooded redneck NRA supporters they are.” Hollywood is so tolerant of others, aren’t they?



On Celebrity Conservatives: Bo Derek reportedly is a committed conservative and appeared on Bill O’Reilly to talk about Japanese Whalers and Wild Horse Roundups.....I’m not sure about her politics, but she looked really good when she got naked in “Ten”.......




On Barney Frank: Uh, oh...take a gander at Rep. Frank’s 1,279 pages H.R. 4173. I think somebody should look at it, because apparently our elected reps in D.C. have not. It authorizes Federal Reserve banks to provide as much as $4 trillion in emergency funding the next time Wall Street crashes......say it ain't so, Barn.........



On Barney Frank2: Looks like a sheep gave birth to human-faced lamb in Turkey. This is not 100% substantiated, but a certain congressman was in Istanbul recently and the resemblance is uncanny.........


On Illinois Will Elect Anybody: Former Governor Blagojevich waxed poetic, with eloquence as he said, 'I'm blacker than Barack Obama.” His response to a reporter’s question? “It was a stupid thing to say”.
Maybe it’s the hair......

On Nevada Will Elect Anybody: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s evaluation of our current Prez: “Obama is a "light-skinned" black man with no Negro dialect unless he wanted to have one." Negro? "Bring me my shoes,Toby!!" It’s 2010, Harry, maybe time to sit on the front porch with a good, government issued drool cup......

On the U.S. Will Elect Anybody: Bill Clinton recounting a conversation to a friend said this about the Prez: “a few years ago, this guy would have been getting us coffee.” Nice........

On Political Bedfellows or Friends of Convenience: During the last presidential campaign, Hillary Clinton was seriously considering a new tactic when her New Hampshire campaign chairman, Billy Shaheen, mentioned Prez Obama's previous use of drugs. Probably would have been a good idea. Perhaps we would have had a Secretary of State that was actually worthy of the office......

On Mrs. Prez: A man was taken into custody and later hospitalized for mental-health observation after he was seen jogging stark naked a few blocks from the White House. Maybe the Prez got home earlier than expected?

On Mrs. Prez 2: The Food Network TV show “Iron Chef America” featured the beefy first lady Ms. Obama to share her kitchen secrets with the rest of the world. The veggies used on set did not, in fact, come from the White House garden, as previously reported. This amounts to a Culinary Hoax of grand proportions, not unlike Dan Rather and Buffalo Bob. However, this scandal affirms the character of those who inhabit the White House. I didn't vote for him.........

On the End of World: Isaac Newton said the year 2060 is it.....could the Mayans be wrong? Stay tuned............

On Did You Know: A cat has 32 muscles in each ear, a pregnant goldfish is called a twit, the plastic things on the end of shoelaces are called aglets, and finally, on average, 100 people choke to death on ball-point pens every year.

On Inner Harmony: Could there possibly be any group of people in the entire world happier than the Yak Herdsmen of Nepal? I think not.........

On Random Lyrics of 60’s Protest Songs:

Like Judas of old
You lie and deceive
A world war can be won
You want me to believe

But I see through your eyes
And I see through your brain
Like I see through the water
That runs down my drain.

Bob Dylan-Masters of War

The Birth of a Patriot

"But what do we mean by the American Revolution? Do we mean the American war? The Revolution was effected before the war commenced. The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people; a change in their religious sentiments, of their duties and obligations... This radical change in the principles, opinions, sentiments, and affections of the people was the real American Revolution."
John Adams, letter to H. Niles, 13 February 1818

I had been thinking about it for some time. Twenty years ago or so, I sent for some information about it. I felt the need to educate myself. So I went through the packet, digested what I had read, put the stuff in my closet, and there it stayed for a couple of decades. It all made perfect sense to me, the principles were sound since they were based on history and the original ideas and philosophies of the men who created them. But how could I possibly alter my way of thinking that cut to the very core of my being? What was so special and unique about this radical, old-new ideology that would allow for a paradigm shift in my day-to-day life experience?

Fast forward to a couple of years ago: my oldest son, who was a junior in high school, was on a diatribe I didn’t care for. The topic was anti-Bush, anti-Republican, anti-war, and anti-everything that I held very dear to my heart. “But Dad, what about civil liberties? Why are we at war with a country which had nothing to do with 911? Don’t you think the Patriot Act is a bit intrusive? The Conservatives are social Nazis!”

“Everywhere the human soul stands between a hemisphere of light and another of darkness on the confines of two everlasting hostile empires, Necessity and Free Will.”
Thomas Carlyle, Essays, "The Opera"

His questions originated with literature I had given him, the very same information I stashed away years before. The packet was about The Libertarian Party. At that moment, I began to process the exchange I had just had with my 17-year-old son. I had read a great deal about American History, the life and times of the Founders, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Declaration, but I was so jaded and politically hypnotized by the Dark Side; yes, the GOP.

I had pictures of Reagan and J.C. Watts hanging in my office, two or three RNC membership cards in my wallet, and a vicious right-wing attitude. I wouldn’t go so far as to say I had an epiphany, angels did not break out in chorus, and the heavens did not open up. But, at this moment, my eyes were opening, and my vision was approaching clarity. The most remarkable result was the notion of peripheral thinking, to think outside of what had been my sad, little box.

"All truth passes through three stages: First, it is ridiculed; Second, it is violently opposed; Third, it is accepted as self-evident." Arthur Schopenhauer

Honestly, it was the elbow of perspectives previously unknown to me giving me a polite nudge. My personal Ghost of Political Future had shown me a glimpse of what could be. I knew that what had once been wasn’t working any longer. There was no need to question the fact that the current gang of 535 presently in D.C. was not there to serve me or mine.

After November 4th, 2008, I awoke uncharacteristically rested, but a tad troubled. Typically, on the night of the presidential election I stay up until it’s over. My little crystal ball told me the outcome long before the votes were cast. My first thought as I woke up was: Had I done it again? Did I vote in another presidential election just to vote? Did I vote against a candidate again? Yes, yes and yes. That day, I wrote a piece about what I knew about The Libertarian Party, sent it to the newspaper (The Cincinnati Enquirer, and I’ll be damned if it didn’t show up on the editorial page that Saturday morning. So I wrote more, and again, and I’ll be double damned if they didn’t print my column four out of the next six weeks. Then, boom, it stopped as quick as it started. Oh, well, I had my fifteen minutes of fame, or whatever you would like to call it. I was miffed, but more than motivated to continue.

“The searching-out and thorough investigation of truth ought to be the primary study of man”. Cicero

My experience gained was I could write something passable to publish in a large newspaper where it is read by thousands of people. I learned that I could write about the Founders and Libertarianism, publish it on my own blog, and have people read it and comment. The 1st Amendment is alive and well, thank you very much. The internet is a veritable plethora of knowledge, and a good portion of it is accurate. I also learned that I had more readership from the newspaper.

I learned that it really wasn’t any of my business what people do behind their closed doors, and that if two people of the same sex want to live and thrive together, it really had no impact on me at all. The Patriot Act seemed like a good idea, but at that time I was under the influence of GWB. Good man, bad decisions. Period. The 10th Amendment meant very little to me back in the day, but today it has become a throw away. It’s a sad day when the Bill of Rights turns into a comedy sketch that would be seen on Saturday Night Live. “Let’s see, we’ll keep the 1st so the media can gush all over us, and the 10th is laughable, and the 2nd is in our sights”. The dominoes are falling, one by one.

“Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.” ~Thomas Paine

This is all happening today, at every level of government. Our elected officials, by and large, are of one party. We could call the party the Democratic Republicans, but that would be a slap in the face of Jefferson, who used that moniker at the birth of partisan politics. Rinos, Republicrats, whatever. This political hybrid has lied, bluffed, misguided, begged, borrowed and stolen all of what I had learned to believe in, and I mean BELIEVE. Hook, line and sinker. Now I can see sideways. I can see inside out, upside down and backwards. Anybody can read the platform of The Libertarian Party (www.lpo.org), and grasp at least enough to understand that anything is possible. “What once was” is absolutely relevant to “what has to be”.

"Every human has four endowments: self awareness, conscience, independent will, and creative imagination. These give us the ultimate human freedom. The power to choose, to respond, to change." - Steven R. Covey

The Libertarian Party is, quite simply, an organization whose goal is restoration of government to its rightful owners, who are “We the People”. We the People should be governed by our consent, and only our consent. We the People should be entrusted with policy and protocol, with selecting the individuals that best represent our village, our township, our county, our state, and our nation. Here’s the dirty secret: THEY don’t trust us anymore. THEY are effectively saying, “Sit down and shut up. We’ll tell you what’s good for you. And if you don’t like it, screw you.”

We the People deserve better than that. We, as Libertarians are positioned for a sort of spiritual revival, or a back-to-the-future type of quest. The other major parties have financial resources, but are lacking in assets that only We the People can provide. Our major assets are our people. The Libertarian Party is in a position to recruit, market, and recruit some more. There exists, in today’s political hodgepodge, an enormous potential for disgruntled voters stuck in the abyss of the political middle to make a new commitment. Maximum freedom + minimum taxes + limited government = The Libertarian Party.

M_f + M_t + L_g = LP.

The time is now and our goal is just. A true revitalization of government and its objectives are in reach; freedom of movement, freedom of thought, freedom of choice, and most importantly, freedom of spirit. Like the man said:

“It is easy to take liberty for granted, when you have never had it taken from you.” -Unknown

The Song of the Syren

"It is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth -- and listen to the song of that syren, till she transforms us into beasts. ... Are we disposed to be of the number of those, who having eyes, see not, and having ears, hear not?" --Patrick Henry

si⋅ren [sahy-ruhn] syren (alternate spelling)

Classical Mythology, one of several sea nymphs, part woman and part bird, who lure mariners to destruction by their seductive singing.

Throughout history, civilizations have been seduced by the Song of the Syren. Stalin, Hitler, Mao, Amin, Saddam, Franco, Mussolini, Pol Pot, Ngirumpatse, on and on and on. What these despots had in common was a song that was very soothing to their population. Typically, these monsters raise their heads at a time of economic collapse or civil unrest, or both.

The song is always the same: a promise to bring their respective country/state/region back from the abyss, a firm commitment to be a leader for the people. The lyrics reflect a sort of hope to these people who have none. The tune always begins with a melodic, yet hypnotic tempo that sets their collective minds at ease. One could imagine a symphonic largess filled with strings and woodwinds. Now that the new “leader” has the attention and support of the crowd, the tempo begins to change.

It speeds up, with more percussion, a marching band in motion. He selects his most ardent supporters to stand firm by his side, the volume of the music increases, the cadence much more distinct, but the theme has morphed into a much darker and sardonic one. Cello and bass overtake the violins and flutes. The Song of the Syren ends abruptly, every time, with a staccato-like finality.

As the director leaves the stage, the scenes unfolds with timeless duplicity; thousands of bloated corpses floating down the Kagera River in Rwanda, mountains of rotting bodies at Auschwitz, fields filled with the skulls of intellectuals in Cambodia, millions starved to death in the Ukraine, countless dead during Mao’s Cultural Revolution. And so it goes.

"If a nation expects to be ignorant -- and free ... it expects what never was and never will be." --Thomas Jefferson

The song is always the same. Those that are in need or in a state of despair hear the seductive notes as a solution that they perhaps did not hear the day before. The messiah has come. Never again will they have to worry about war and famine, disease and pestilence for the savior has arrived and sings the song of salvation up until the point when the realization of oppression and genocide appears. By then it is too late.

We have had the good fortune here in the U.S. to have had a group of men who studied and understood the ramifications of what such regimes had to offer its citizens. After years and years of debate, the U.S. Constitution was born, and has outlived countless dictators and despots. Why? Personal freedom and the right to choose our own individual destinies. It all boils down to choices we are permitted to make on a daily basis. The decisions we make are either right, wrong of indifferent. Some can impact our lives in such a negative fashion that we may never be able to dig out. These choices are being taken away bit by bit.

"Freedom had been hunted round the globe; reason was considered as rebellion; and the slavery of fear had made men afraid to think. But such is the irresistible nature of truth, that all it asks, and all it wants, is the liberty of appearing."--Thomas Paine, Rights of Man, 1791

Today my toilet allows me one gallon per flush. I’m not supposed to fill up my car until after 6:00 PM if the air quality index is in the red zone. I can’t decide whether to smoke or not smoke in the bowling alley because the state has decided I cannot. My guns must be registered or deemed to be illegal. I don’t have choice which assault rifle to purchase, or whether or not I can smoke a Havana. My insurance company chooses for me what doctor to see and where to go for treatment. I can’t make a decision to carry shampoo on an airplane. I’m not allowed to make a choice on whether or not my Federal government spends us into oblivion.

"Dependence begets subservience and venality, suffocates the germ of virtue, and prepares fit tools for the designs of ambition." --Thomas Jefferson

We, as a country, could fall into that same hypnotic state, like sleepwalkers. Lack of due diligence on the part of the rest of us could be deadly. We must stay focused, keep our eye on history, and to be forever committed to the cause, and that is the restoration of government to its rightful owners; we the people. If we lose sight of that, the U.S. could become the Late, Great United States.

The Ukrainians or Jews or Cambodians or Rwandans didn’t see it coming either. They listened to the song. They were attracted to the lyrics. They loved the beat. It was easy and pleasant to dance to. What separates us from them is a unique document, firm resolve, and commitment to turn our ears from the music. At least I hope we still have enough Americans that believe to maintain the necessary diligence to turn back any attempts to further degrade the freedoms we take for granted, for, after all, the song remains the same.

“There is trouble in the forest,
And the creatures all have fled,
As the maples scream "Oppression!"
And the oaks just shake their heads

So the maples formed a union

And demanded equal rights.

"The oaks are just too greedy;

We will make them give us light."

Now there's no more oak oppression,

For they passed a noble law,

And the trees are all kept equal

By hatchet, axe, and saw.”-

Neil Peart (Rush)

Happy Bill of Rights Day

“We the people.........” three words that changed the course of human history as none had done before.

As a group of forty two delegates sat in Philadelphia, all from different regions of the American colonies, from different cultures and ancestry, in what would become Independence Hall, they had but one purpose: to draft a document that would redefine government as the world had known it since the dawn of civilization.

The founders and framers understood through painful lessons of history that the monarchies and kingdoms and papal edicts were a study of what not to do. By the very nature of their existence, these forms of governing were inherently tyrannical and oppressive. By the whims of kings and queens and clergy, freedoms could be erased if those in power “felt like it.”

The Church of England had the power to arrest, detain, imprison, and execute those who spoke or wrote anything contrary to the mandates of the

church.

The Spanish Inquisition is a stark and frightening example of what Papal decree wrought on the populace.

Commoners paid enormously for the right to feed their families, for the kings of the time took whatever they felt they needed or wanted.

“.....In order to form a more perfect union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility........”

The Constitution was written in direct defiance to the traditional European form of government. Self government was just a theory, as it really hadn’t been attempted on the scale in which the founders proposed. Imagine a government “by the people”, a government which “governs by the consent of the governed”. What a concept to consider. John Locke’s vision of a “social contract”,

considered empirically radical in the late part of the 17th century fanned the flames for the revolutionaries in the American colonies. Voltaire, Rosseau, and Locke were a few of the forward thinkers the founders relied on to draft the Declaration of Independence.

“Bills of rights are in their origin, stipulations between kings and their subjects, abridgments of prerogative in favor of privilege, reservations of rights not surrendered to the prince. Such was "Magna Charta", obtained by the Barons, swords in hand, from King John"– Alexander Hamilton

Hamilton, being a Federalist, relied on British Common Law which did not define or quantify natural rights. He felt the Bill of Rights was unnecessary as it would limit the freedoms of the people. Federalist held the belief that the government knew what was best for the people, and the Bill of Rights would stifle central power.

During the drafting and finalization of the U.S. Constitution, there were those involved who felt the Constitution did not protect the basic liberties of the citizenry, and therefore should not be ratified. At the convention of 1787, James Madison proposed a “Bill of Rights” to ensure the freedoms that were not enumerated in the original text of the Constitution. The anti-Federalists, on the other hand, felt that a “Bill of Rights” was an absolute necessity to guarantee the freedoms not delineated in the Constitution. As Thomas Jefferson relayed in a letter to Madison:

"Half a loaf is better than no bread. If we cannot secure all our rights, let us secure what we can."

So as politics go, an honest compromise was reached to include the Ninth Amendment:

“The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.”

In essence, it was a win-win for the people. Both “parties” achieved the result they were looking for, and strangely enough, good and just.

Today we celebrate the 218^th anniversary of the ratification of the Bill of Rights. These ten amendments essentially expanded the liberties we all enjoy today. Without these amendments, the Federal government had the flexibility to enumerate “freedoms” in such a way to be advantageous for the power of a central government. Jefferson and Madison were correct in pushing for the inclusion of these rights. Although our contemporaries may have forgotten that they exist at all, the Bill of Rights does indeed live and thrive in our daily lives.

“A bill of rights is what the people are entitled to against every government on earth, general or particular, and what no just government should refuse, or rest on inferences” – Thomas Jefferson

Conceal and Carry laws, which covers the 2^nd and 10^th amendments are a good example. The fact that there are countless religious sects and denominations takes care of the 1^st. Illegal search and seizure is questionable at best. Due process and trial by jury are another good example of rights observed on a daily basis. Cruel and unusual punishment is always a topic of contention.

By and large, the Bill of Rights was an historic addition to an already historic document. We the people need to get busy and emphasize the importance of the 10^th amendment that is to give back to the states the rights we were guaranteed, and push back on the extortion and oppressive nature of the Federal government who has methodically centralized the power that was intended to be ceded to the states.

As Libertarians, we understand that our ultimate goal is to return the government to its rightful owners. “We the people....”

As Libertarians, we understand the time is now, and the goal is just. We know this is a marathon and the journey will be long and arduous. Think about the enormity of the Bill of Rights, the effort undertaken to make it a reality, the sweat and the blood spilled to protect it, and the battle we are engaged in to maintain its relevance.

“The Bill of Rights is a born rebel. It reeks with sedition. In every clause it shakes its fist in the face of constituted authority... it is the one guaranty of human freedom to the American people.” – Frank Cobb

Regulatory Extortion

"To take from one, because it is thought his own industry and that of his fathers has acquired too much, in order to spare to others, who, or whose fathers, have not exercised equal industry and skill, is to violate arbitrarily the first principle of association, the guarantee to everyone the free exercise of his industry and the fruits acquired by it."

--Thomas Jefferson, letter to Joseph Milligan,
April 6, 1816

Thomas Jefferson was most certainly not born with the gift of prophecy. I’m fairly sure he did not consult an ancient seer residing in some cave far up in the Blue Ridge mountains. He did not read tea leaves, depend on Tarot cards, or employ an astrologer to assist him in day to day decisions.

Jefferson was born with the gift of forward thinking based on personal experience and more importantly, the historical significance derived from the decisions and policies of our predecessors. He may have been referring to what had already transpired during the young and brief history of our nation.

Alexander Hamilton feared anarchy, and as a result took a very liberal view of the U.S. Constitution, most notably granting broad powers to the Federal government. Jefferson, on the other hand, felt that the Constitution’s 10th Amendment was very clear, granting powers not specified to the states. This disagreement led to the formation of the two-party system which we know so well today. Hamilton, Adams, John Jay, et el, were “loose constructionists”. There political philosophy dictated more power to the central government for the “Greater Good”; hence the party was called the Federalists.

Jefferson couldn’t have disagreed more with this thinking. The U.S. Constitution was written with the express purpose of granting the central government with a very limited roll in governing, while allowing each sovereign state to decide what would be more advantageous for them. Jefferson’s party was called the Democratic Republicans.


Jefferson could see very clearly what would and could happen if the Feds were granted expansive powers to usurp the rights of each sovereign state. Fast forward to modern America, and we have the Feds doing exactly what Jefferson feared. For example, The Uniform Drinking Age Act (1984) gave each state a five year window to change their laws to the minimum age of 21. If not, interstate highway funding would be cut off. Another example is to pay off states with a highway slush fund that lowered the legal alcohol blood limit to .08.




How about the “Tobacco Settlement”? The Feds blackmailed the tobacco companies through regulatory extortion by “allowing” them to stay in business if they paid a few hundred million dollars to lawyers, plaintiffs, federal, state and local governments.



The Mother of All Shakedowns may be the Community Reinvestment Act, in which the Feds mandated private banks to loan mortgage money to those who had no intention of repaying it. For those banks who declined to participate, the Feds would regulate them out of business. The CRA has brought us to this point in history where we all face an uncertain future, largely because of our leaders in Washington using political muscle and employing figurative leg breakers to apply pressure to those in private industry who really didn’t want to play the game. Did I mention Microsoft?


There are many more examples of Federal Blackmail, but I think you get the point. Jefferson saw this as a possibility 200 years ago, when Hamilton wanted to start a national bank. Since then, the two party system has morphed into essentially one enormous political machine where right is wrong and wrong is right. We live in a country where 65% of the citizenry believe our current administration is on the right track. We live in a society that would allow for the redistribution of wealth, “because it’s the right thing to do”, where the clever and industrious are punished, where those who go to work everyday to provide for family are penalized. Complacency is the rule, so long as we are “provided for”.

"It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds." – Samuel Adams

Pulpit Politics

“I never told my own religion nor scrutinized that of another. I never attempted to make a convert, nor wished to change another's creed. I am satisfied that yours must be an excellent religion to have produced a life of such exemplary virtue and correctness. For it is in our lives, and not from our words, that our religion must be judged.” -1816, Thomas Jefferson in a letter to Mrs. H. Harrison Smith



Here in Ohio we had Issue 3, which was a statewide referendum on casino gambling. The issue passed, and, (4) cities in Ohio will be granted a license to build Las Vegas type casinos. The cities are Cincinnati (my hometown), Cleveland, Toledo, and Columbus. I count (25) states with casino gambling. The impetus for this post is that the Catholic Church issued a press release a couple of weeks ago condemning the ballot initiative. The reason? “Moral, social, and economic reasons”. Being a recovering Catholic, I seem to recall festivals, Monte Carlo nights, weekly Bingo, on and on. The church would have us believe that these activities are not “gambling”, but righteous fund raisers for the salvation of a multitude of souls archdiocese would say the “Vote No on Casinos” stance had nothing to do with the possible diversion of funds that otherwise would end up in the coffers of the church. No hypocrisy here.

Throughout our country’s history, Pulpit Politics has attempted to shape public policy all the way back to pre-revolution, Tory dominated Boston, to the split of the Methodist Episcopals prior to The Civil War, and the current Roman Catholic stance that makes us scratch our collective heads. The heart and soul of the American Revolution which was Boston, was fairly evenly divided on allegiance to the crown and the complete independence from England.

Anglican churches preached fire and brimstone sermons opposing independence, with had nothing to do, once again, with the business of religion. Since the Anglicans were really just an Americanized version of the Church of England, this really was no surprise. The Roman Catholics, however, were accustomed to a huge power base for centuries in Europe, and, in actuality, were responsible for that political structure. So for the Archdiocese to preach from the pulpit about the evils of previously mentioned Issue 3, should not be a big surprise either.



Likewise, the Methodists in the southern states could not agree with their counterparts in the northern states about slavery. Sermons on Sundays were riddled with talk of the moral absurdities of the “peculiar institution” on the north, and spirited speeches about secession in the south. Granted, slavery was a very real and serious moral issue, there was no resolution that was going to come from a pastor, preacher, priest, or any other clergy. This issue was to be settled politically, and no sermon written was going to serve as a replacement for public policy.


Once again, none of this had anything to do with biblical themes or the business of salvation. Publicly, the founders professed no membership in a particular religious denomination. Privately, it may have been a different matter, but based on the First Amendment, religion was intended to be a private matter, that is, not public.

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

The founders had it right. Religion is and should be a personal issue. Religious doctrine should be about religion, not public policy. Political matters are for governments at all levels to determine, and the First Amendment should preclude Pulpit Politics. This guarantees us the right to worship as we please, or not at all. The founders knew that morality was based in human nature. They felt that by allowing us to choose our faith, this would be a means to the end of religious intolerance that was prevalent in the Church of England and the Holy Roman Catholic Church. The freedom is there, but so is the intolerance. Let’s go to the Town Hall to listen to politics, and church for the religion. OK?

“One man's religion is another man's belly laugh.” Robert Heinlein

Healthcare and Hypocrisy

“The art of medicine consists in amusing the patient while nature cures the disease.” ~Voltaire

As a child growing up in the 1960’s, I remember trips to the doctor’s office, along with my (5) siblings and my mother and father. Doc Krone would line us up, with a tray full of syringes, and give us shots, one by one. My dad would pay the bill, drive to the pharmacy, pay for the medicine, and we would go home. There were no co-pays, prescription cards, forms to fill out, HMO’s or any other kind of “managed care”. There was no such thing as HSA’s, MSG’s, PPO’s, PPG’s, PPA’s, EPO’s, or BHP’s. We didn’t have HBO, CNN, ESPN, or MSNBC. Our esteemed elected officials in Washington are very close to voting on a comprehensive healthcare reform bill that I call a POS.


Back in the days when a physician’s primary procedure was “bleeding”, the medical knowledge base was very limited. In the surgeon’s tent after a battle, they relied on whiskey as an anesthetics, and musket balls for the patient to bite down on during amputations and removal of shrapnel. These tools of the trade were readily available, and were a good way to keep costs down. At the advent of the industrial revolution, and the technological advances associated with this period led to rapid advancement in medical care and procedures. Chloroform and ether replaced whiskey and muskets balls as the preferred pre-surgery anesthetic. Although this provided an improved level of comfort for the patient, there was a certain amount of increased cost associated with it. As with any technological discoveries and inventions, life becomes easier, healthier, but the component of cost is driven upwards.


The first insurance plans came to the fore during the Civil War, and only to protect those that worked on railroads and steamships, and only in the event of an accident on the job not unlike disability insurance in today’s world.


As urban centers became more populated, families were living in more confined spaces, and an alternative was needed to care for the sick. By the 1920’s there was an advisory board to establish some standards for the practice of medicine. By the 1930’s, a non-profit know as Blue Cross and Blue Shield negotiated discounted pricing on a “fee for service” basis. This system worked quite well for decades. Strong union influence in the 1940’s and 50’s created employer paid insurance plans.



Government programs to cover health care costs began to expand during the 1950s and 1960s. Disability benefits were included in social security coverage for the first time in 1954. When the government created Medicare and Medicaid programs in 1965, private sources still paid 75 percent of all of the health care costs. By 1995, individuals and companies only paid for about half of the health care with the government responsible for the other half.

"Of several remedies, the physician should choose the least sensational." -Hippocrates

As the cost of healthcare rose dramatically in the 70’s and 80’s, “fee for service” was replaced by “managed care”. Which brings us to 2009. Speaker Pelosi proudly announced the long awaited Healthcare Reform bill, all 1,990 pages of it. At first blush, after perusing some random pages, it would appear that attorneys across the nation would be smacking their lips. Endless litigation, page by page, section by section is the likely outcome of this behemoth. The fact that nobody really knows what is in the bill, including most members of Congress is seemingly irrelevant. That the “cost” is “only” a trillion dollars or so over (10) years is only a detail. When was the last time the CBO accurately predicted anything (10) years out? I recall we were to have a balanced budget by now. The stimulus package was to have a profound and positive impact on the economy and unemployment. I digress. Oh, yeah, the U.S. Constituion was only (8) pages or so.

"I find medicine is the best of all trades because whether you do any good or not you still get your money." (Moliere: "A Physician in Spite of Himself," 1664)

The fact that there is no interstate competition for health insurance, is, on the surface a huge part of the problem. In order to make this happen, states are going to have to waive some laws and regulations already in place. Each state has their own policies and laws regulating the healthcare industry, and this makes is difficult to compete across state lines. Once we get by this barrier and allow true, free market price shopping, I believe the market can and will allow the price of doing business to come down. Once the Federal government gets more of her greedy and power hungry paws in the mix, the more difficult it will be to repair the damage; free markets have always worked when left to run their course. Over regulation and government interference only serves to stifle, and ultimately strangle whatever course the markets would direct. Once it is deemed to be “free”, Katy bar the door.

“You can't fix stupid.”- Ron White (Comedian)