COUNTDOWN TO ANARCHY

HOW LONG DOES THE USA HAVE?

This is the most interesting thing I've read in a long time. The sad thing about it, you can see it coming.

I have always heard about this democracy countdown. It is interesting to see it in print. God help us, not that we deserve it.

How Long Do We Have?

About the time our original thirteen states adopted their new constitution in 1787, Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinburgh, had this to say about the fall of the Athenian Republic some 2,000 years earlier:

'A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government.'

'A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury.'

'From that moment on, the majority always vote for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship.'

'The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years'

'During those 200 years, those nations always progressed through the following sequence:

1. >From bondage to spiritual faith;

2. >From spiritual faith to great courage;

3. >From courage to liberty;

4. >From liberty to abundance;

5. >From abundance to complacency;

6. >From complacency to apathy;

7. >From apathy to dependence;

8. >From dependence back into bondage'

Professor Joseph Olson of Hemline University School of Law, St. Paul, Minnesota, points out some interesting facts concerning the 2000 Presidential election:

Number of States won by:
Gore: 19
Bush: 29

Square miles of land won by:
Gore: 580,000
Bush: 2,427,000

Population of counties won by:
Gore: 127 million
Bush: 143 million

Murder rate per 100,000 residents in counties won by:
Gore: 13.2
Bush: 2.1

Professor Olson adds: 'In aggregate, the map of the territory Bush won was mostly the land owned by the taxpaying citizens of this great country.
Gore's territory mostly encompassed those citizens living in government-owned tenements and living off various forms of government welfare...' Olson believes the United States is now somewhere between the 'complacency and apathy' phase of Professor Tyler's definition of democracy, with some forty percent of the nation's population already having reached the 'governmental dependency' phase.

If Congress grants amnesty and citizenship to twenty million criminal invaders called illegal and they vote, then we can say goodbye to the USA in fewer than five years.

2nd Ammendment Refresher

Why Ted Kennedy, Nancy Pelosi and Hillary Clinton want gun control so badly!

1. An armed man is a citizen. An unarmed man is a subject.
2. A gun in the hand is better than a cop on the phone.
3. Colt: The original point and click interface.
4. Gun control is not about guns; it's about control.
5. If guns cause crime, then pencils cause misspelled words.
6. Free men do not ask permission to bear arms.
7. If you don't know your rights, you don't have any.
8. Those who trade liberty for security have neither.
9. The United States Constitution (c)1791. All Rights Reserved.
10. What part of "shall not be infringed" do you not understand?
11. The Second Amendment is in place in case the politicians ignore the others.
12. 64,999,987 firearms owners killed no one yesterday.
13. Guns only have two enemies; rust and politicians.
14. Know guns, know peace, know safety. No guns, no peace, no safety.
15. You don't shoot to kill; you shoot to stay alive.
16. 911: Government sponsored Dial-a-Prayer.
17. Assault is a behavior, not a device.
18. Criminals love gun control; it makes their jobs safer.
19. If guns cause crime, then matches cause arson.
20. Only a government that is afraid of its citizens tries to control them.
21. You have only the rights you are willing to fight for.
22. Enforce the gun control laws we ALREADY have; don't make more.
23. When you remove the people's right to bear arms, you create slaves.
24. The American Revolution would never have happened with gun control.

IF YOU AGREE, PASS THIS "REFRESHER" ON TO TEN FREE CITIZENS.

STUPID IDEAS! ID Cards for Illegal Aliens

I read that there are some states - and probably some in Congress, too - who want to issue ID cards to illegal aliens (they are NOT immigrants; immigrants obey the laws and enter the country legally.)

Maybe there's no law against issuing IDs to people here illegally, but it's a really STUPID idea. What on earth makes anyone think that people who have already demonstrated they have no respect for our laws are going to want to drive legally and obey our traffic laws? Contempt for the law does not, cannot lead to respect for the law anymore than spitting in another person's glass of water purifies it. Anyway, why bother with IDs or driver's licenses (small potatoes - states' laws) when you've already successfully defied our national laws? This is really just a scheme by lawmakers who want to grant amnesty but haven't got the intestinal fortitude or honesty to come out and say so plainly. Maybe if we all ignored the laws we find personally inconvenient (like paying our income taxes) the folks who are elected to uphold our laws might begin to get it. If a law is wrong, change it or drop it. Ignoring or declining to enforce laws in effect only leads to anarchy.

"He who is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and he who is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much." Luke 16:10

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TORTURE AND INTERROGATION

Every so often someone on a Congressional committee or subcommittee gets on a soapbox to wail about US forces (military or intelligence) torturing captured enemies of our country. But all the lawyer-speak in the US Code – “cruel, unusual and/or degrading treatment” - is nebulous, ephemeral and ambiguous.

Common-sense Americans know what torture is:
- Having sharp objects (like pins or needles or toothpicks or nails) driven under your fingernails or toe-nails – that’s torture;
- Having your fingernails or toe-nails yanked out by force – that’s torture;
- Having your tongue burned with hot instruments or cut out – that’s torture;
- Having your eyes blinded or cut out – that’s torture;
- Having your ears cut off – that’s torture;
- Having your head cut off with a sword – that’s torture;
- Having electrical shock administered to your private parts or your body – that’s torture;
- Being incarcerated under conditions like the French used at Devil’s Island – that’s torture;
- Being treated like captured Americans were treated by the Japanese in WWII, the North Koreans during the Korean War, the North Vietnamese during the Vietnam conflict, and other enemies at various times and places whose humanity is questionable at best - that’s torture;

I could go on and on, but I think you get the idea. On the other hand, some of the forms of interrogation our defenders use to obtain information from captured enemies may not, and should not, be enjoyable. No sworn enemy of our nation ever ‘gave up the goods’ after we gave them cookies and milk and then asked, “Please – just tell us what we need to know.” It just doesn’t work that way.

If our Congressional leaders were as eager to protect our citizens and our country as they are our enemies, I for one, would feel a lot more secure.

WAR, INTELLIGENCE & CONGRESSIONAL MALFEASANCE

Now let’s see if I’ve got this straight. . .

- FISA Court has been around since the late 70’s, and works some of the time

- BUT - with FISA provisions/rules intact to safeguard civil liberties - national intel agencies missed catching/preventing the attacks on the Twin Towers TWICE (1993 & 2001 - doubt those who died would share Congress’ privacy concerns over safety/defense of our country and citizens)

- inability to ‘connect the dots’ by intel agencies before 9/11 led Congress to correct past mistakes (unintended consequences) of limiting intel agencies ability to effectively obtain available intelligence

THEN,

- Bad (or faulty) intelligence (but the best available nonetheless) led the President and Congress to go to war with Saddam Hussein’s Iraq (right decision based on info available at the time, but turned out to be wrong - or at least questionable - decision once better knowledge of the facts became known (hindsight - always 20/20)

- Congress now locked in a political battle of will(s) with President because we’re in a war that takes a lot of money that they’d rather spend on social programs. Congress wants out of Iraq, absolutely does not want to deal with Iran, and has no confidence in the administration’s intelligence analysis

- Iran’s President is ‘transparent’ in his goals and defies all international efforts to rein in his nuclear program. (If he reminds anyone of Adolph Hitler . . . well, duh!)

NOW,

- Congress wants to roll back the law they passed only a few months ago that actually gives our intel agencies the tools and ability they need to better find out what our enemies are plotting. Congress wants to return to the bad old days when we gave our enemies a ‘pass’ to plan our destruction with impunity.

AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO SEES THE INSANITY OF THIS???

If Congress passes the “Restore Act - H.R. 3773). We go back to the days when the civil rights of terrorists to make private phone calls trumps protecting Americans from violent attack and adds insult to injury by prosecuting the men and women who are trying to defend us if they listen in! This is absolutely nuts!

We should hold every member of Congress who votes for this bill personally accountable and liable for damages when (not 'if') the next terrorist attack occurs, especially if this could have been prevented by electronic surveillance!

CHEAP TOMATOES? CHEAP LABOR?

Cheap tomatoes and cheap labor. This should make everyone think, be you Democrat, Republican or Independent. CHEAP TOMATOES? From a California school teacher - - - “As you listen to the news about the student protests over illegal immigration; there are some things that you should be aware of . . .“I am in charge of the English-as-a-second-language department at a large southern California high school which is designated a Title I school, meaning that its students average lower socio-economic and income levels. “Most of the schools you are hearing about, South Gate High, Bell Gardens,Huntington Park , etc., where these students are protesting, are also Title I schools. “Title I schools are on the free breakfast and free lunch program. When I say free breakfast, I'm not talking a glass of milk and roll -- but a full breakfast and cereal bar with fruits and juices that would make a Marriott proud. The waste of this food is monumental, with trays and trays of it being dumped in the trash uneaten. (OUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK) “I estimate that well over 50% of these student s are obese or at least moderately overweight. About 75% or more DO have cell phones. The school also provides day care centers for the unwed teenage pregnant girls (some as young as 13) so they can attend class without the inconvenience of having to arrange for babysitters or having family watch their kids. (OUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK) “I was ordered to spend $700,000 on my department or risk losing funding for the upcoming year even though there was little need for anything; my budget was already substantial. I ended up buying new computers for the computer learning center, half of which, one month later, have been carved with graffiti by the appreciative students who obviously feel humbled and grateful to have a free education in America . (OUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK) “I have had to intervene several times for young and substitute teachers whose classes consist of many illegal immigrant students here in the country less then 3 months, who raised so much hell with the female teachers, calling them "Putas" (whores) and throwing things, that the teachers were in tears. “Free medical care, free education, free food, day care etc., etc, etc. Is it any wonder they feel entitled to not only be in this country, but to demand rights, privileges and entitlements? “To those who want to point out how much these illegal immigrants contribute to our society (because they LIKE their gardeners and housekeepers, and they like to pay less for tomatoes): spend some time in the real world of illegal immigration and see the TRUE costs. Higher insurance; medical facilities closing; higher medical costs; more crime; lower standards of education in our schools; overcrowding; new diseases, etc., etc, etc. For me, I'll pay more for tomatoes. We need to wake up. The guest worker program will be a disaster because we won't have the guts to enforce it. Does anyone in their right mind really think they will voluntarily leave and return? There are many hardworking Hispanic/American citizens that contribute to our country and many that I consider my true friends. We should encourage and accept those Hispanics who have done it the right and legal way. It does, however, have everything to do with culture: a third-world culture that does not value education, that accepts children getting pregnant and dropping out of school by 15 and that refuses to assimilate; and an American culture that has become so weak and worried about ‘political correctness’ that we don’t have the will to do anything about it. CHEAP LABOR? Isn't that what the whole immigration issue is about? Business doesn't want to pay a decent wage. Consumers don't want expensive produce. Government will tell you Americans don't want the jobs. But the bottom line is cheap labor. The phrase "cheap labor" is a myth, a farce, and a lie. There is no such thing as "cheap labor." Take, for example, an illegal alien with a wife and five children who takes a job for $5.00 or $6.00/hour. At that wage, with six dependents, he pays no income tax. Yet at the end of the year, if he files an Income Tax Return, he gets an "earned income credit" of up to $3,200 free. He qualifies for Section 8 housing and subsidized rent. He qualifies for food stamps. He qualifies for free (no deductible, no co-pay) health care. His children get free breakfasts and lunches at school. He requires bilingual teachers and books. He qualifies for relief from high energy bills. If they are (or become) aged, blind or disabled, they qualify for SSI. Once qualified for SSI they can qualify for Medicare. All of this is at (our) taxpayer's expense. He doesn't worry about car insurance, life insurance, or homeowners insurance. Taxpayers provide Spanish language signs, bulletins and printed material. Bottom Line: He and his family receive the equivalent of $20.00 to $30.00/hour inbenefits! Working Americans are lucky to have $5.00 or $6.00/hour left after paying their bills and his. The American taxpayers also pay for increased crime, graffiti and trash clean-up. Cheap labor? YEAH RIGHT! Wake up people! These are the questions we should be addressing to the presidential candidates for either party, and when they lie to us and don't do as they say, we should replace them at once!

The President's General

The following was written by a friend of mine and is shared here with his kind permission. I could not agree more with him. PP+

This afternoon I was listening to General Petraeus' testimony before the Senate on C-SPAN radio. At one point there was a break and the C-SPAN host began to take calls. Before his first call, he said the following (paraphrase)..."you're listening to President Bush's General, General Petraeus, and the Ambassador to Iraq testify before the Senate...."

I really couldn't believe my ears. I nearly drove off the road. At what point did our country's military become President Bush's, I wondered. At what point did President Bush receive ownership of General Petraeus? I really wondered why the host decided to call General Petraeus the "President's General." General Petraeus was confirmed, for each of his stars, and each of his positions, by the Senate. He was further confirmed, by a unanimous vote, by the current sitting Senate for his position as the Commander of the Multi-National Force-Iraq. Why was he suddenly President Bush's General? If he was anybody's General, he was the Senate's. I suppose a part of the host's problem was that he probably belongs to a growing segment of our population that has no ties, links, nor interest in anything that has to do with the military, completely unaware that our country's Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, and Airmen follow orders, not politics. If it were any other way, we'd still be fighting at Gettysburg.

We've reached a point in our political dialog that we can no longer, as a society, separate anything from politics. We look at a General testifying about his corner of the world (granted, a very, very hot corner), and assume the administration is speaking through his mouth. Though it was the policy of the administration that put General Petraeus in Iraq, it was the Senate that asked him to appear, to give his assessment of the situation. General Petraeus has only served in Iraq for three years - and I'm certain he'd rather be other places. We pretty much can't separate anything from politics; and the level of vitriol is so high today that it completely clouds our judgment, understanding, and ability to speak with one another. I'm sure many of you read about Moveon.org's advertisement in the NYTimes (full page) about "General Betray Us"...cute. What they don't understand, and what they will never understand I suppose, is that Petraeus is very much Moveon.org's General. He serves them more than they'll ever know, as much as he serves President Bush. But their complete inability to see through their hatred for anything that is remotely related to GWB, the GOP, or Rupert Murdoch neither serves them, their "constituents," nor the very goals they are trying to accomplish. And the Right has their own share of 'moveon.orgs' too. Nobody is innocent in these ridiculous times. General Petraeus is a very distinguished, accomplished, brilliant man who has been serving his country through Republican and Democratic administrations for longer than most of moveon's staffers have been living, . But today he somehow became a member of the Bush administration. I pray not.

But this isn't about General Petraeus. This is about our hatred for one another that is so deep, so galvanized, that we can neither see the forest nor the trees. This is about one Soldier's opinion that we've better get our s**t together, as a country, in the very near future, or we are going to spiral out of control and become a country of Capulets and Montegues. Ignorance about a General is one thing. But hatred for our fellow countrymen is another. I tell my children when they are frustrated, "Stop, Breathe, and Think." It's time for us to stop, breathe, think, and find our Appomattox.

Cherokee Wisdom

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people.

He said, “My son, the battle is between two ‘wolves’ inside us all.

“One is Evil. It is anger, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, false pride, inferiority, superiority, lies, and ego.

“The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humilty, kindness, benevolence, empathy. generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.”

The grandson thought about it for a moment, then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf wins?”

The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”

Religion and Politics

There are some who believe that a candidate's religious beliefs should not influence his politics. This sounds nice, but - if we were capable of truly separating what we personally believe to be true at the deepest levels of heart, mind, and soul from our actions, speech and public behaviors we would rightly be called hypocrites. The word hypocrite originates from the Greek language and was used to describe actors in a play: what you saw was not authentic but 'put on.' What manner of lunacy impels otherwise rational people to demand hypocrisy from those seeking political office or being appointed to one as a pre-condition to election or appointment, and then later whine and protest when such people demonstrate that they really do have feet of clay? Better by far to know a persons true character from the beginning and accept that every human being essentially lives out his or her core beliefs on a daily basis. These people are said to be morally integrated. You know what they believe and where they stand because they have integrity.

Individuals can behave morally and are rightly expected to meet certain minimal standards by other people. Governments, however, are only corporate identities and are at best capable of only acting justly. To expect morality from government is to be in a state of perpetual disappointment. Justice is as good as it can get - and that seems to be a worthwhile goal.

Religious people should not be excluded from the body politic because of their faith which informs their core beliefs. It is completely fair and desirable to exclude from public life those who would impose their religious preferences on others by fiat. Persuasion is legitimate; imposition by force never is.

TWO IMPORTANT QUOTES.

"I am told that religion and politics are different spheres of life. But I would say without a moment's hesitation and yet in all modesty that those who claim this do not know what religion is." --- M. K. Gandhi

"A religion that does not interfere with the secular order will soon discover that the secular order will not refrain from interfering with it." --- Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

Pax et bonum!

LESSONS FROM HISTORY

Caveant consules ne quid res republica detrimenti caperet. - ‘Let the consuls see to it that no harm come to the state.’ (Senatorial ultimate decree in the Roman Republic)

POLLS, PEOPLE & SHORT-TERM MEMORY LOSS

Most people pay some attention to polls and surveys. If you want to make and sell a product or service, it makes a lot of sense to find out if there are any people out there who want to buy what you want to sell. And if you’re already in business, it’s wise to know how people regard your product.

It seems to me, though, that there is something disingenuous about the way politicians and elitists try to manipulate polls to create an impression that there’s a ground swell of public support for a position or candidate. Surveys and polls are tools. But they are not perfect. That’s why they always include a statistical level of error (+/-). And anyone who’s ever actually met and spoken with a pollster knows, “…if you let me phrase the proposition, I can practically guarantee any answer I want.” So a jaundiced eye is always a good ally when evaluating poll and survey results.

Recently I read an account which mentioned some interesting data extracted from the Gallup organization’s annual update about America’s confidence in various institutions.

In this year’s poll (2007), the highest level of confidence went (again) to the U.S. military (for the 10th year in a row). The next closest group in which the people have confidence is small business, 10 points behind, and the police 15 points behind.

The President was much lower (which the opposing party loves to quote), but far lower in public esteem is the Congress with a confidence rating of 14%!!! …which means, if you think about it, that 86% of Americans have little or no confidence in our elected representatives! You would think that this resounding, bi-partisan vote of ‘no confidence’ might actually inspire leaders of both parties to get some of the truly important legislation passed in a fair and balanced way. This, however, seems unlikely.

Also significant is the finding that 34 percent of Americans mention Iraq as the nation’s top problem – significantly greater that any other issue. But again, it also means that for 66 percent of Americans, Iraq is NOT the nation’s most pressing problem – something you would not know by watching the news, reading the major papers and journals, or listening to the politicians of the congressional majority!

If we fail to think about things, we may be given impressions of reality which have been distorted for partisan purposes.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Edward Everett Hale (1822-1909)

‘Do you pray for the senators, Dr. Hale?’ ‘No, I look at the senators and I pray for the country.’
----Van Wyck Brooks, New England Indian Summer (1940), p.418

28 JULY 2007

The Last “Real American” Democrat. It’s been a long time since there has been a real American Democrat in high public office. Senator Joe Lieberman, the first to come along since Harry Truman, is my nominee. He alone of all his party has had the integrity to put – and keep – principle above partisan politics, the national interest above self-interest. And how did the Democratic party reward this champion of integrity? His colleagues in the Senate turned on him like cowardly dogs, treated him like a leper and completely disassociated themselves from him while he soldiered on in his re-election bid absent his own party’s nomination or support. Happily for the country, the rank and file voters of Lieberman’s state had better sense than their party’s partisan leadership and returned him to the Senate where he showed what a class act he is by continuing to caucus with them in spite of their petty snub. All other Democrats have fallen short as they sold their souls wholesale and put the party line (increasingly irrational and devoid of intelligent basis) above what’s best for the country. Backbone and intestinal fortitude are especially lacking in all the current crop of Democrats in Congress. It’s as if they really think more of other countries and their citizens’ opinions than they do of our own. If they should ever be able to impose their desire to pull out of Iraq and allow it to collapse, they won’t go all out after OBL/AL-QUIADA in Afghanistan or anywhere else. As the bad guys follow us from place to place, we’ll continue to retreat and cave in to the Dems abhorance of self-defense and national self-interest until they show up here in strength. It’s the same strategy the Nazis used to take-over Europe only on a global scale. Neville Chamberlain would be proud of Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Russ Feingold, John Kerry and all the rest of the gutless wonders now lamentably in control of Congress. “Where is Taffy TWO? The World wonders.”*

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY “STUPID” CRITIQUE.

BUSH’S HUBRIS AND DOWNRIGHT STUPIDITY. Pres. Bush, however, has not exactly set the standard for intelligent and effective leadership lately and has squandered numerous opportunities, managing to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory with amazing creativity and resilience. One wonders how a team that was so brilliant at creating a winning election strategy can be so ineffective at communicating a simple and easily understood goal to cleanse the world of Islamic throw-backs to the middle-ages. If Madison Ave. ad agencies can craft a successful campaign to get people to buy stuff we don’t need, why can’t a few good communicators manage to fight their way into the White House and get a clear, reasoned message onto the American street of public opinion? Now I grant you, there are some who hate Pres. Bush so much that nothing he could ever do would please them. But a more savvy approach would be to make sure that the truth about a situation (Iraq, fr’instance) could be presented in a clear, understandable way with accurate facts and data to back it up conclusively, might actually have an effect on any but those invincibly opposed anything this administration proposes or says.

Another example – if one is needed - is the Republican party’s (and the Democrats too!) failure to recognize the national attitude toward illegal aliens – citizens of foreign nations in this country illegally – who are in some cases receiving medical care, education for their children and other benefits of citizenship at the expense of the American taxpayer, not to mention the threat to our national security by permitting borders as porous as a sieve. This failure to act was nothing short of delusional. It’s time to wake up in Washington!
* WWII Naval history buffs will know the significance of this quote. PP+

Online at Last!

This officially opens the Church & State blog: a neo-classical miscellany of thought, opinion, humor and wisdom on matters sacred and secular.

There is much to discuss in the world of politics and religion. I hope you will join this forum of thought and opinion.

Pax et bonum!

Pater Politicis