Is such government involvement in our lives permissible under the U.S. Constitution?

Today Walter Williams writes and excellent column, American Idea. I encourage you to read the entire article. He basically describes how the major difference between Americans and the rest of the world is the healthy distrust and suspicion Americans have had for government. Unfortunately these sentiments are not shared as much by today's Americans.

This distrust is evident in the Bill of Rights, separation of powers, checks and balances, Electoral College, and constitution amendment process requirements. The creation of this nation's framework was not designed out of a desire for speed, efficiency, and good intentions impulses, but rather out of a suspicion and distrust of government.

It certainly has worked out well to grow a collection of diverse colonies into the most powerful nation on the planet. Unfortunately, the debates we have these days does not include as part of the debate the question in my title.

As we lose the healthy suspicion and distrust of government, then we move toward less liberty and greater governmental control of our lives.

Barack's America

Barack’s America is a land in which women would be forced into having abortions, conservatives would sit at segregated lunch counters, rogue police could break down conservative talk-radio hosts’ doors in raids, schoolchildren could not be taught about American exceptionalism, conservative writers and artists would be censored at the whim of government, and the doors of the federal courts would be shut on the fingers of millions of conservatives citizens for whom the judiciary is often the only protector of the individual rights that are the heart of our democracy.

The recent action of Dave Checketts to drop Rush from a group seeking to buy the St. Louis Rams angers and saddens me. I do not see this action as any violation of rights, but rather a misguided business decision. This reflects on our society and culture with respect to how ALL authentic conservatives, not just Rush are being characterized and treated.

A business decision can be sound or a failure. The coming weeks of NFL football game attendance and TV audience size will tell us if it is a sound business decision to disrespect football fans who are also conservative or not. I really don't know from a business perspective what the outcome will be.

This nation, from the beginning, has been divisive in nature. At first there was a divide between loyalists and patriots. The patriots won. After this victory the nation grew in size, strength, and wealth for about 130 years. Then some ideas from Europe began showing up in America. Teachers, artists, writers, and newspaper columnists started asserting the ideas of the nation's Founding Fathers are just old-fashioned and no longer apply in modern times. Americans have slowly accepted these assertions in a fashion that Robert Bork lays out in his book, Slouching Toward Gomorrah. In Barack's America the slouch has turned into a sprint.


Rush's brother David wrote an excellent column today, This isn't about Rush, that I encourage everyone to read. The only part I disagreed with David is when he writes that a smidgen of our outrage should be for those lukewarm conservatives who contribute to the destruction of race relations and advancement of liberal causes by pandering to false characterizations of authentic conservatives. My disagreement is that I think the outrage should be more than just a smidgen.

Rush is not afraid to stand up to the people Ken Hutcherson calls poverty pimps who are nothing but slave sliders and pushers to get their way. To be afraid and pander would be a racist condescension that is just not Rush. I especially liked this comment by Hutch on Rush's Thursday radio program:

How in the world can the NFL -- and I'm going to tell you something else, brother, straight from me, who played football. Those African-American brothers who talk about they wouldn't play? That is the biggest lie on this side of the universe. Not only would their wives get on them and make 'em go -- and their girlfriends, and their moms; they would beat 'em all the way to the 50 yard line and tell them, "You better get out there and get that game check." And why don't they talk to the hundreds of African-American players that would be excited about you owning a team?

It's just sad that there are not people like Hutch running the NFL in Barack's America.

Some Unsolicited Advice for Lindsey Graham et al

I am thinking that some of you folks or your staff in the US House and US Senate read conservative blogs. I know. I know. You have not asked me for any advice, but that brings me to my first bit of advice.

Nancy, Harry, and Barry are not asking you for any advice. Why do you couch your speeches as though you have some good advice for them? They didn't ask for it and don't want it. Instead, you ought to just spell out what you would do yourself as what is the best action on behalf of the people. You have been making these suggestions that Nancy, Harry, and Barry need to go slower and try a more modest change in the status quo. If that is your position, and not just what you are advising for Nancy, Harry, and Barry to do, then thanks for informing me so I can work at opposing you.

The second bit of advice I have for you is do a better job of refuting the suggestion that the GOP is just a Party of No that supports doing nothing to alter the status quo. This is difficult to refute in a thirty second sound bite, but it is necessary to refute it by explaining rules to people.

The first rule that needs to be explained is that all spending bills must originate in the US House. The US House has a Rules Committee that decides which bills may be introduced on the House Floor. This Rules Committee has not allowed any GOP bills on health insurance reform to be introduced on the House Floor. There are House GOP Reps who have bills to do something instead of nothing, but they are not permitted to introduce them. Now since the US Senate can't originate a spending bill, Harry is going to pick out of all of the US Senate health insurance reform work that he likes and drop it into an existing bill passed by the US House and awaiting US Senate action. This will be the vote to watch for in the US Senate.

The final bit of advice is just try and keep your personal opinions about conservative celebrities on radio, TV, and internet to yourself. Lindsey, I don't care if you agree with Glenn Beck or not. You need to to focus your attention on who you agree or disagree with who are also serving in the US Senate or in the US House. Those are people with the power to cast votes that can have serious consequences. The attacks on conservative celebrities who do not hold office is misguided and disturbs me. Of course someone like Rush can rally conservative solidarity, but this should be appreciated instead of complained about by GOP members of the US Senate and US House.

Some may ask why don't you give some advice to some former members like Bill Frist? It is not worth the effort for me. Folks like Bill Frist do not have the vote casting power any more. The battle I choose to engage is with the folks who currently possess the vote casting power.

I don't expect any of you folks to heed my advice that you did not ask me for. I do expect that voters in the upcoming election are more engaged in looking at what you are doing and how you present yourself than they have been in a long time.

A Loyalist Or A Patriot

This Hoosier has packed up after 57 years of living at the crossroads of America. Thirty-six of those fifty-seven years involved working in the belly of the beast as a state government employee. Now this transplanted Texan residing in the Permian Basin region can get back to writing about this sweet land of liberty that he has always been proud of.

So while my writing was put on hold, my brain continued to collect my thoughts about what is going on. I discarded the meme that America is divided in the same way as it was in 1860. This is not a north vs south regional conflict. This is not quite a conflict between sympathizers to the national government vs sympathizers to state governments because there is some degree of dissatisfaction with all levels of government. What we have now most closely resembles the American Revolution era.

During the American Revolution in the colonies of New England, as well as in the southern plantation colonies and mid-Atlantic colonies, you were either a loyalist or you were a patriot. If you were a loyalist then you were a loyal subject to his majesty King George III. Knowing that his majesty commanded a force to protect you as long as you obeyed him was all the comfort you needed. You were willing to serve and obey the king, and feel protected and cared for in return from him.

If you were a patriot, the life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness that God had endowed you with were cherished more than anything any ruler on earth could offer. You would rather die than live under any tyranny that oppressed your God-given rights.

Fast-forward 233 years to the present day, and many of the same issues exist. They are packaged and presented differently, but it is basically the same content. Whether it is a king or a political party elected into office, the desire to hold on to and grab as much power as they can over each individual is the plan. Each individual has to choose between liberty and their divine rights by God, or being provided for by the state. This choice goes a lot deeper than political party affiliation. One can find politicians in both parties who love to hold on to and grab more power by promising goodies provided for you by the state. However, I do think the Republican Party represents the best opportunity for people who cherish their liberty and divine rights by God to take over the control and the leadership positions.

I have chosen to be a patriot instead of a loyalist, and I have also discovered in Texas I am not alone. There is so much less regulation by state and local government in Texas. I'm used to living under laws and regulations written to restrict and limit the distribution of utilities, cable TV, insurance, and beer. For example, here in Texas I had a choice between around one hundred different electric utility providers. I love it!

People I have met so far have been very helpful with tips about where to buy, and what to watch out for. I think this word of mouth process in the market place is a much better deal than the government getting its nose into my personal business. The only personal negative I have heard anyone say about President Obama is that they are annoyed by seeing his face every night on their TV set.

The motto down here is "Don't mess with Texas." This motto is a way of saying "We love now and always this sweet land of liberty, so please do not meddle into our lives." As a tranplanted Texan I sincerely and whole-heartedly endorse this motto.