The TSA is Perfect!*

This week it was revealed that 95% of the really bad stuff (bombs, guns, knives) that inspectors tried to sneak past TSA security made it through and onto airplanes! (Cue boilerplate outrage from politicians, etc.)  We've seen this movie before folks, and frankly it's boring.  And tragic.

TSA is doing exactly what it was designed to do!  Sure, some of the votes for nationalizing airport security were naively made with good intentions.   And George W Bush, bless his progressive naive heart, may have actually believed the federal government could do a better job than the airlines. (Never-mind that on 9/11, the only people who actually did their jobs perfectly were the private airport security folks!  They were instructed by federal regulations to allow box cutters onto planes, and that's what they did.)  But that's all water under the totalitarian bridge.  Today, the TSA has almost nothing to do with providing security; it is just another cog in the Democrat Party union jobs program and kickback machine.  

Add it to the list.  TSA is just like The VA, IRS, Postal Service, Amtrak, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, etc.  Every one of these agencies is an abject failure at their ostensible mission, but they are performing exactly as designed for their true purposes; political power and money for Democrats.    

You would think the VA is a healthcare system for veterans.  You would be wrong.  The VA is first and foremost a jobs program and a union money machine for Democrats.  Sure, it was originally set-up to treat veterans, but now does so only as an afterthought.  You might think Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were mortgage companies for the poor.  You would be wrong.  Fannie and Freddie are first and foremost political operations that were originally set-up to provide mortgages for the poor, but now do so only as an afterthought.  This goes for the IRS, Amtrak, USPS, and every other agency and corner of the federal government - except for the uniformed military who are not yet unionized.  (see my related piece on the recent Amtrak accident here.)  

The sad thing is that naive Republican "progressives" have too often bought into this scheme.  The essence of progressivism is to view the constitution as an impediment to "progress".  Progressives seek to move past those pesky constitutional limits and exert total power wherever they can.  Limited power just doesn't cut it.  Progressives want it all.        

The framers of our constitution knew this could happen.  They knew totalitarianism and all-powerful government would politicize everything and turn it into a horror show.  That’s precisely why they gave us a “charter of negative liberties”, (to borrow Barack Obama’s derisive words) which says “what the federal government can’t do to you…”.  The constitution specifically limits federal power for a reason.  It was a check on totalitarianism and a wall against nationalizing and politicizing everything.  Well, it used to do that anyway.  Not so much anymore. 

Next time a story comes out about some federal agency miserably failing at it's core mission, remember:  its true mission is votes, power, and money for the Democrat Party, and for that it is perfect. 

Ramadi, Baltimore, and the Obama Power Vacuum

Sometimes events are just events.  Sometimes they are related and show a trend.  But sometimes events are so linked, they paint a vivid picture worth well more than a thousand words.  So it is with Ramadi and Baltimore.

 

Ramadi and Baltimore are just the latest manifestations of the Obama power vacuum.  (No, the Obama power vacuum is not like a Hoover or Dyson.  It won’t help you clean your house.  The Obama power vacuum is actually quite deadly and claims lives on an hourly basis..)   All the ISIS chaos, Putin’s imperialism, Iran’s aggression, as well as the chaos befalling cities across America essentially share the same pathology as Ramadi and Baltimore.  And Obama’s hand in all of it is undeniable.  (For a black Democrat president with a Muslim name who identifies as a Christian, he sure is presiding over the death and suffering of a lot of blacks, Democrats, Muslims, and Christians!) 

       

In Ramadi, and Iraq in general, Obama’s precipitous withdrawal of all US forces left a power vacuum which ISIS has filled with tragic effect.  When George W Bush turned things over, US soldiers were no longer fighting in Iraq.  Our role was as a stabilizing force.  Serving in Iraq in 2009 was actually safer than walking the streets of Baltimore is today!  Now, just a few years into the Obama power vacuum, and the whole place is a tragic mess.  We fought, died, and prevailed in a bi-partisan effort, only to have it squandered by an irresponsible, arrogant, and petulant pol.

  

In Baltimore, and cities across America, the Obama power vacuum resulted from the same kind of behavior. Again there was a long effort which had largely prevailed against rising inner-city crime and murder.  Enter Obama.  Instead of using his bully pulpit to encourage the rule of law and allow the criminal justice system to play-out, he jumped in and inserted himself into every high profile case implying the police and criminal justice system were racist and criminal.  He deployed his de-facto race czar, Al Sharpton, to stir animosity.  He deployed his Department of Justice to charge police departments with civil rights violations and impose onerous restrictions.  In every high profile case so far he’s been proven wrong.   Nevertheless, Obama’s assault on local police and criminal justice systems persists.  Cops have realized that being pro-active is not worth the effort.  They have stopped doing what works and left a power vacuum into which chaos and murder have flooded.

A vacuum is not a thing.  It’s the absence of things.  Obama’s principles are also not things.  They are the absence of things.  Obama’s approach to foreign affairs can best be described as “not Bush’.  In domestic affairs it can be best described as “not the Constitution”.

“Not Bush” is how we get a troop surge and a tripling of casualties in Afghanistan, a complete withdrawal from Iraq, appeasement with Putin, Nukes for Iran, intervention in Libya, an overrun embassy, and chaos in Ramadi.  “Not the Constitution” is how we get a virtual takeover of local police departments, criminalization of routine police work, federalization of everything, executive takeover of the legislative function, and chaos in Baltimore.

Ramadi and Baltimore are just the latest examples of the Obama power vacuum from “not Bush” and “not the Constitution”.  Into those vacuums have rushed ISIS and inner-city mayhem across America.     

Why Democrats deserve blame for the tragic Amtrak accident

(UPDATED)
"Why Democrats deserve blame..."  Provocative title, no?  But I can prove it.

Democrats are screaming that the tragic Amtrak train wreck in Philadelphia is due to funding.  If only those stingy Republicans would give Amtrak enough money, we could have saved those lives.  This is a lie.  The problem is not money.

The problem is unions.  Railroad Workers United (RWU) is kind of an umbrella union for all railroad union workers.  RWU does not exist to ensure safety to riders, nor to provide excellent service, nor to run efficient railroads.  RWU's mission is to preserve jobs and money for its members.  How do I know this?  I read their  "Statement of Principles" .

Here's the smoking gun:

"The carriers are degrading and deskilling our crafts, implementing new technologies that threaten our jobs..."

This is from paragraph number one of their principles.  They exist to fight against "technologies that threaten our jobs" -  technologies like the ones that could have made that curve on the tracks safe and automatic.

Google has a self driving car.  Tesla is about to have one as well.  Next year, your new car will likely have an option that will automatically slow down in response to speed limit signs.  Even airplanes fly by themselves most of the time today.  Yet Amtrak trains, which run on a track and are easy to automate, still require human operators.

The reason Amtrak trains are unnecessarily dangerous today is the same reason Johnny can't read and GI Joe can't get quality healthcare at a VA hospital.  Unions run the VA, the public schools, and the trains. They also run the IRS, the Post Office, and every other government agency except the military.  Quality, efficiency, and customer satisfaction are not union priorities.  I'm sure you're shocked to hear this.      

You may also know that unions are the biggest funding source for the Democrat party.  Unions give billions every election cycle, practically all of it to Democrats.  Your safety, health, education, and constitutional rights take a backseat to the union agenda because that is how Democrats get money, votes, and power.

It doesn't matter how much we spend on government union agencies like Amtrak, they can never provide quality, cutting-edge service.  That's not what they are designed to do.  They are designed to be de-facto jobs programs and kick-back slush funds for the Democrat party.  Period.

(UPDATE:  Recent reports suggest that this train may have been hit by an object before it crashed. That may explain why the operator has no memory of what happened.  He could also be lying. The fact remains though that if this train had been automated, an incapacitated operator would not result in dead passengers, or even a derailment.)  

Je Suis Pamela

Let's review, shall we?  In America today, if you mock Muhammad you go to prison like Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, the hapless guy who made a YouTube video, which Barack Hussein Obama, peace be upon him, decided to use as a scapegoat for the deaths in Benghazi, Libya.  Or, you will be blamed like Pamela Geller when radical Islamists come gunning for you while you are pointing out that radical Islam is a threat to our safety and our constitutional rights.  

If however you mock Mormonism, you will get Tony Awards and rave reviews in the New York Times.  That would be OK, if the New York Times didn't have different standards for Nakoula and Pamela.  

Baltimore & The Peanut Butter Joke

When I was a kid, my uncle told me a joke that I've loved to this day.  I think it applies to the Baltimore riots.  It goes something like this:

Three construction workers open their lunch boxes.  The first one says; "Chicken parmigiana!  I love chicken parmigiana!"  The second one says, "Beef stroganoff!  I love beef stroganoff!  The third opens his lunch box and says, "Oh no, peanut butter sandwich.  I hate peanut butter sandwich!  (Of course, there were accents when I was told the joke, but hey this is 2015; can't do that anymore...)

This goes on for two more days, with the first two loving their lunches and the third complaining about his peanut butter sandwich.

Finally, the first guy says to him, "Why don't you tell your wife to make you something different?"  To that, the third guy says,"Who's got a wife? I make it myself!"

Baltimore has been electing Democrat mayors for at least three generations.  The people have been choosing the government.  The people have been choosing their police chief.  The people are essentially rioting against themselves!  They have finally come face to face with their own tragic choices and failures.  This is why they are looting and burning their own town.  They know who has been making the sandwiches, and it is them.

This same irony applies to Ferguson, Detroit, NYC during the Crown Heights riots, Asbury Park and Newark, NJ, LA, and on and on.  Only it's no joke.

Capitalism Sucks!

When was the last time you saw a movie where a businessman was the good guy?  (If you are one of the dozen or so people who saw the Atlas Shrugged movies, you can sit down now.)  Maybe I’m hanging out with the wrong people, but it seems to me most of my contemporaries lean anti-capitalist.  It gets even worse when I listen to younger generations.  Like our current president, it seems more fashionable in America today to be a Marxist, socialist, or communist.

This is no accident. 

    

Ask anyone who the father of communism or modern socialism is, and they will be able to name Karl Marx and explain Marxism in detail.  Next, ask them who the father of capitalism is.  I doubt you’ll get the right answer.

 

I contend the correct answer is again... Karl Marx.  Yes, I’m saying that Karl Marx is both the father of communism AND the father of capitalism.  In fact, Karl Marx was the guy who defined capitalism for the masses in a scathing critique of capitalism called Das Kapital.  In other words, the word most people use today when describing economic liberty, “capitalism”, is actually a Marxist epithet!

Many would credit Adam Smith as the guy who had the most influence in shaping America's economy. On that I agree.  Adam Smith’s book “An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations” was conspicuously published in 1776.  That date rings a bell, no?  But the word capitalism didn't exist in Adam Smith’s day.  He never used it!    

If everyone knows what Marxism is, why doesn't everyone know what Smithism is?  Because it’s not taught.  Marxism is taught everywhere all the time.  If you want to learn about Adam Smith, you have to go looking.  If you go to Wikipedia and look up Marxism, you’ll find plenty.  If you go to Wikipedia and look up Smithism, you’ll get crickets. 

Similarly, if you go to Wikipedia and look up communism, Marxism, or socialism you’ll find exhaustive explanations.  If you look really, really, hard you might find a brief criticism near the bottom of these entries.  If you look up capitalism, you’ll find a long section titled “Criticisms of Capitalism”.  Moreover, most of the entry is laced with subtle and not so subtle digs at capitalism.  This is not surprising because the word capitalism itself is a straw-man.

How about some of the more modern terms, like Supply Side Economics?  You are probably familiar with many criticisms of supply side economics.  But can you accurately define it?  Can you define its opposite, Demand Side Economics?

 

·         Supply side economics is the theory that people will enthusiastically SUPPLY their efforts and capital if they are free to realize the rewards.   

·         Demand side economics is the theory that people will enthusiastically DEMAND the efforts and capital of others if they are subsidized to do so.

 

These are opposite approaches for achieving economic goals:  Supply Side seeks to optimize overall economic vitality (Smithian).  Demand Side at times seeks to stimulate economic consumption (Keynesian stimulus), and at times to achieve egalitarianism (Marxist redistribution).

If you look up supply side economics on Wikipedia, you’ll find a thorough entry.  You’ll also find plenty of criticisms.  Look up demand side economics, and you’ll find nothing.  No definition, and certainly no criticism.  Again, the language is controlled by anti-capitalists.  (I made an attempt to define Demand Side Economics in a tongue-in-cheek cartoon a while ago:  See it here.  (language warning!))

I understand why Marxists, communists, socialists, and Keynesians use Marx’s term, capitalism, for our economic system.  What I can’t understand is why others use the term also.  

I’d love to see supporters of economic liberty use terms like Smithist, Smithism, Smithian or just plain "liberty" to describe their ideas.  Let the critics argue against economic liberty for a change!

Scientology vs. Clintonology

Friends discuss Scientology and Hillary Clinton's campaign for president.  Oh, and there's even a labradoodle in it!

(If you like the technology that makes this possible, support NAWMAL / XTRANORMAL as they try to get back on their feet.  www.nawmal.com  www.xtranormal.com)

Ready for Hillary [VIDEO]

Forget the destroyed servers, the email, foreign donations, Benghazi, the jailed video maker, the Rose Law Firm, Cattle futures, WH travel office, Whitewater, etc., etc., etc.  This woman, who wants to be the next president has been covering-up her husbands sexual assaults and infidelity for decades.  But even more than that, she was in charge of the systematic smearing and intimidation of his victims! Hillary Clinton is unfit for any job.  Period. With the possible exception of license plate maker.    

Obama vs. Christians

[VIDEO 22 seconds  - Obama and David Cameron on whether their countries are Christian.  Cameron's comment was from this Easter.]

Yesterday, Barack Hussein Obama, peace be upon him, chose an Easter prayer breakfast as an opportunity to berate Christians for their "less than loving" expressions, presumably in response to the reluctance of some Christians to perform services which contradict their faith.  Adhering to religious beliefs is somehow "less than loving" in Obama's world, at least when it comes to Christians.

When it comes to Muslims rampaging across the globe mass-murdering Christians (among other infidels), Barack Hussein Obama, peace be upon him, cannot even name the "less than loving" religion they are acting in the name of.  Moreover, he chooses to ignore the fact that the murdered victims were targeted because they were Christians (or Jews, or infidels) preferring to refer to them by the generic "folks", or "citizens", or simply ignoring the massacres altogether.

Have you ever heard Barack Hussein Obama, peace be upon him, berate jihadist Muslims in a manner commensurate with their evil?  Or with even close to the disdain he shows for Christians? No, instead he berates Christians for the Crusades!

None of this matters to the majority of nominal Christians who voted for Barack Hussein Obama, peace be upon him.  In this they are much like their Judeo-Christian coreligionists the Jews, who have a habit of ignoring danger until it's far too late.

Bitter Clingers vs. The Mullahs

If you are a law-abiding Christian who supports the second amendment, Barack Obama believes you are a terror threat, a "bitter clinger", and has you living under severe ongoing sanctions.  If you are a Shiite Mullah with intercontinental ballistic missiles, thousands of spinning centrifuges, plans for a nuclear bomb, who chants death to Israel, death to America, and is in the process of gaining regional hegemony, you just had your sanctions lifted.  Take a moment to let that sink in.

Remember when Barack Obama referred to rural gun owners as "bitter clingers", bitter over their economic malaise and clinging to their guns and their religion?  These are the people being sanctioned by Barack Obama in numerous and diabolical ways.  They are being forced to pay for abortions, their groups are discriminated against by the IRS, the DHS targets them as a terror threat, their gun shops are sanctioned by Operation Choke Point, their legal right to purchase ammunition is thwarted by government bulk purchases and bans,  they are being forced to perform services against their beliefs, and they are mocked and ridiculed by Obama and his minions.

Meanwhile, Iran, a totalitarian theocracy, the world's number one state sponsor of terrorism, the most egregious rogue nation on the planet, fomenter of regional chaos, persecutor of women, gays, and minorities, a nation which seeks to bring about global armageddon, which regularly chants death to Israel and death to America, just got a green light to keep all their existing nuclear infrastructure, all their intercontinental ballistic missiles, and got all their sanctions lifted in exchange for some vague promise to allow limited inspections by some guys in blue helmets sometime in the future.

Seriously, you can't make this stuff up.

(UPDATE:  Remember when Obama declared, "We are no longer a Christian nation..."?  Meanwhile, David Cameron just declared that Great Britain still is.  Below is a video compilation of the two statements by the two leaders.  Incidentally, the US is about 80% Christian, while Great Britain is about 60%.  [VIDEO - 21 seconds])