Littlestuff Weekender-5-7-2011

It has been a busy week. Commodities lost some luster as the dollar strengthened. Gasoline prices appear to have leveled somewhat. The SEAL team provided an opportunity for Osama bin Laden to test the theological certainty of 72 virgins in Paradise for martyrs, but did he go out as a martyr? Hmmm. The President’s hubris was in full display as he used the personal pronoun 21 times during the announcement of the Pakistani action.

Generally, I don’t spend too much time in these columns beating down el Presidente, but his arrogant, smug attitude while our country is dissolving really annoys the dickens out of me. He reminds me of a petulant three-year old who insists on having everything his own way…even if it’s dangerous and destructive. Maybe someone should paddle him and give him a “timeout” in the corner of the West Wing.

The many versions we’ve heard regarding the takedown of Osama illustrate a number of things: the “fog of war” is indeed foggy even in relatively small engagements; politicians lie to improve their images; politicians usually lie…even when there is no apparent reason to do so: some politicians always lie. Will we ever know the entire truth about the circumstances inside that 3,000 square foot dump that housed 23 people for 6 years? Will we ever know the real reason for the 45 minute funeral and burial at sea? Will we ever know the real reason the Commander-in-Chief dithered for 16 hours after relying on 8 months of direct surveillance? Will we ever know his golf score during the leadership dither?

Word is that the Paul Ryan plan for dealing with entitlements will be ditched. My sources haven’t indicated what the sentiment is on the Hill about the other portions of his budget plan. Without the entitlement restructuring the whole plan collapses and puts us on a glide path to solvency sometime in the 25^th century (my hyperbole). While I do expect some members of Congress to resist fiscal responsibility, I do find it alarming that there aren’t more Members screaming at the top of their lungs. Many of them consider Dr. Paul a “whiny old coot,” but his views on the debt, the deficit and the budget are right on the money (pun intended).

No fillies in the Kentucky Derby this year. I don’t follow horse racing because as a youngster growing up on a farm, I know how truly stupid horses are. Placing hard earned money on wagers based on 1,000pound critters with bird brains and bird legs seems rather silly to me. Do you think the National Organization for Women (NOW) will be protesting at Churchill Downs today? Think they’ll be wearing those funky hats?

The gardening and planting could use a warm five-day respite from rain. The indoor seedlings are flourishing…particularly the zucchini.

Thursday I was ill so I watched the South Carolina GOP “debate” from my sofa. It seemed rather lively at times and most of the five candidates performed quite well. There were clear distinctions among them regarding abortion, free market capitalism and the role of government. The unfortunate aspect for me was that freedom and liberty were so rarely mentioned …but they were …just not enough. As new candidates sprout up and join the fray, I suspect that the tenor and tempo of the debates will become less confrontational and less informative.

Sunday is Mothers’ Day. A special time for honoring “Mom.” We’ll be having lunch with my mother. If you are blessed to be a mother or to have yours still with you, thank her.

Our radio program has now solidified. We are on Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s from 6:00pm to 7:00pm on 1370 WSPD with the “Eye on Toledo” program.

The Children of Liberty are meeting Tuesday evening at the Sanger Branch Library, 3030 West Central Avenue in Toledo. Professor Lee Strang, UT Law School, will discuss church-state issues. Program begins at 6:30pm.

Have a wonderful remainder of the weekend and continue to cherish liberty.

Comment:   cearlwriting@hotmail.com     or    www.littlestuff-minoosha.blogspot.com

A Response

A friend and reader of this column passed the Tuesday “Terrorists and Tyrants” piece on to a friend who responded rather forcefully that she or he didn’t wish to read any more such ideological trash. The individual went on to remark that I should be arrested and convicted if a terror attack should occur because of my unsafe obsession with liberty. Let me state that I fully understand that person’s concern with his or her safety. None of us who has our right mind willingly walks into a deadly situation. Our federal government is mandated to protect and defend its citizens from outside threats.

What I find most vexing, however, is that our government restricts our freedoms, spies on our movements and limits our capacities for making personal choices in the name of protecting us yet demonstrably fails to secure our borders. Why does our government restrict our own citizens rights and movements in the name of security but does not seriously seek to interdict those dangerous non citizens who cross our borders with impunity? Will the complaining reader hold the government responsible when a terrorist totes a small nuclear device across the border and blows an airport terminal to smithereens while he or she is standing in line waiting to be groped by the TSA? Perhaps, but the government is immune and cannot be held accountable for its failures.

Dear reader, my concerns about our loss of freedoms is not intended to strip you of your safety. I would argue as forcefully as you that your safety is an illusion, but losing our liberty is a reality that grows more ominous every day. It truly concerns me when someone wishes that I would stop writing about freedom because they want the government to insure their safety. Their eyes are open, but they do not see. I wrote in an earlier column that “wishing to live and being afraid to die” are two different attitudes. The angry reader is clearly afraid to die, and that attitude has caused him to accept nearly any thing…nearly any abuse that would give him some small sense of security. Given the reader’s state of mind, the response is predictable. For those of you who understand how governments use crises to increase power, your skepticism about government rules and enhanced “civil” security are justified. Remember Rahm Emanuel’s pithy observation that one “should never let a crisis go to waste.” Government messes up nearly every activity with which it gets involved except for those that increases its power.

Personally, I do not want anyone to be at risk, suffer harm or die as a result of a terrorist act or war. I do firmly believe that our greatest security failure in the current “War on Terror” is our government’s unwillingness to secure our borders. Government has developed the uncanny ability to close the security barn door long after the threat and the horse have moved on. Our security actions are reactive. We force U.S. CITIZENS to undergo all types of discomfort and indignities to assure that former styles of attacks do not occur again. Our government is ineffective, inefficient and power hungry. If one has listened to the story of the Osama bin Laden killing in Pakistan, one must be puzzled by how often the story has changed. These are the same people in the same theater of concern who are tasked with protecting us. Would you describe them as reliable and trustworthy?

Trust the government if you choose. Surrender your freedom and your unalienable rights if you choose. Allow the stupid, the clueless and the power-hungry to order you around like cattle if you choose. Our words are here to alert you and inform you. Ignore them if you choose. Please do not be offended if when I’m charging the hill for freedom, I do not stop and open your self- constructed cage of fear as I run by.

Comment:   cearlwriting@hotmail.com    or   www.littlestuff-minoosha.blogspot.com

The Dandelion

Have you had the experience of a four year old extending a yellow stained hand and proudly stating        ” I picked some flowers for you?” The crushed little cluster of dandelions represents her idea of beauty, and she wanted to share them with you. The dandelion is an amazing little plant. Its bright yellow flower and robust leaf array stand out in the middle of an immaculate lawn. If left unchecked, the hardy dandelion will propagate until the entire lawn becomes a waving sea of snappy yellow. It is unfortunate that so many people want to treat the lovely dandelion as a weed because the simple little plant can be transformed into an amazing wine….strictly for medicinal purposes, of course.

In some respects the radiance of the dandelion seems to be a lethal feature. The yellow is easily spotted   among the green, and its presence seems almost to be a dare…”take me if you can.” Crabgrass, on the other hand, tries to hide its nefarious existence by possessing some semblance of green as it establishes its deadly anchor in the soil. It’s the brave and somewhat functional dandelion that stands tall and boldly blossoms while announcing its presence among the evenly trimmed and blandly green grass.

The dandelion wants to be free. The dandelion wants the entire lawn, property and planet to share his liberty. The dandelion shouts in tiny plant talk, “you can do it…assert yourself…rise above your sameness and dare to be free.” Do the other plants respond? If left to her own devices, the single dandelion will attract a multitude of others. They will note that her radiant color reflects her joy in freedom…and they will seek to share it too. There are some; however who do not want the dandelion to thrive. They will poison her message and attempt to destroy her roots. Whenever they observe a single dandelion appear on the scene, they will rush to isolate her and remove her. Her existence in the field of uniform green is a reminder to the lawn keeper that some plants seek their own path and do not want or need the lawn keeper’s “one size fits all” control.

People who love liberty are the dandelions of society. Their lust for freedom helps them blossom into easily identified champions for liberty. Some try to silence them, and others attempt to marginalize them. The dandelions of freedom will not stop. They will find others to help them invade the world of robotic tyranny. They plant their roots and welcome others to their fields. After a time the dandelions for liberty become so numerous that the lawn keeper cannot stop them…cannot kill them…cannot isolate them. The entire lawn community will rise and fire the lawn keeper, and justice will reign.

Be a dandelion. Your nation, your family and your communities need you even if they do not yet realize it. Be a dandelion. Stand up and stand out for liberty. Be a dandelion. Bury your roots and don’t let go until others come along to share the journey. Dare to be a dandelion.

Comment:    cearlwriting@hotmail.com      or     www.littlestuff-minoosha.blogspot.com

Terrorists and Tyrants

Fear is a powerful thing. Many people fail to take risks because they fear failing. Despots know this and utilize fear to control others. Evil flourishes when people allow their fear to subvert their desire for liberty. Fear overwhelms our rational thought and drives us toward making choices that are contrary to our best interests. Choosing to live a life that is marinated in fear as opposed to living in liberty is somewhat like a tiger preferring the cage to the wild. You are alive, but are you truly living? People who are free dare to dance. People who are fearful scurry for hiding places. Psychologists tell us that negative reinforcement and positive reinforcement are useful for manipulating behavior, and fear clearly fits into the negative mold.

Fear of ostracism and fear of retribution or pain appear to be the most common forms of internal justification for compliant behavior. Tyrants and terrorists are fully aware of our inclinations to avoid discomfort so they capitalize on our fear. Fear is an instinctive reaction that generally leads to one of two responses: fight or flight. People who resist oppression are the fighters, and those who succumb to it are fleeing pain. Our reactions to tyranny and terror are very personal, but whole groups of people can be motivated to pursue a collective strategy by inspirational leaders. Leaders can sound the “retreat,” or they can lead the charge for liberty.

Tyranny is not necessarily the product of a single forceful individual in a position of power. It can be achieved by a bureaucracy or an overwhelming, over burdening mass of laws, rules and regulations by a collection of individuals who when standing alone would not be tyrants, but when their efforts are compounded, the result is a state of tyranny. Terrorism operates in a similar fashion. It can be a single mastermind, a group of fanatics or a gaggle of well-meaning politicians who spread fear and anxiety throughout the land. Terrified people are indecisive people, so terrorists and regulators capitalize on the people’s inability to act decisively and proactively.

We fear terrorists because they can strike at any time, any place. We fear tyrants because their strong arms of oppression will punish us for any deviation from their laws. The common element is perpetuity...constant fear. In both cases our voices for liberty are reduced to whispers for survival. Our shouts for freedom morph into whimpers of apology. While we may survive the terrorist attack or the tyrant’s control, we are, in essence, already dead. Clearly liberty has no value for zombies.

Here in the United States we have experienced an interesting phenomenon. Our leaders of our REPUBLIC have used our fear of terrorists to advance the rule of tyranny. Our desire for greater safety has led us to accept the early vestiges of enslavement. Our acquiescence to our governments’ calls for more power in order to protect us has drawn us down the path toward tyranny. True, the federal government is mandated to protect and secure our nation, but it has a greater responsibility to protect and defend our liberty. Our fear of outside threats has seemingly given the government carte blanche to run roughshod over our personal freedom. For our liberty to prevail, we must resist tyranny as forcefully as we denounce terrorism. There is no such thing as freedom from fear. The minds of people are fertile enough to imagine monsters of every type under our beds. Liberty can only survive when we reject fear as a lifestyle….and it does not matter what the source of our fear is.

The fear that is used by terrorists and tyrants springs from the same root. Sometimes fear can be a healthy thing for people because it may restrict our compulsion to act stupidly by taking unnecessary risks, but fear is more commonly manifested as paralysis. Liberty is too precious to be sacrificed on the altar of fear and indecision. We can never allow our fear of half-baked loonies to cause us to run to the momentarily safe arms of tyranny. The New Hampshire motto says it best: “Live Free or Die.” Freedom is fleeting, and death is inevitable. Why not live for liberty? It is better to live in freedom and die while pursuing a glorious purpose than it is to die slowly while bound in chains.

Comment:  cearlwriting@hotmail.com    or    www.littlestuff-minoosha.blogspot.com

State of my Mind

Yesterday I discussed the difficulty of maintaining a republic because of a number of factors. There are others, I’m certain, but those four (size, diversity, avarice, career politicians) seem to be those most troublesome to me. Please understand that I am fully aware that this analysis and proposed solution will probably have no effect on the nation’s discourse. There are some considerations that I believe are worthy of notice if citizens of various states would think about them. If you assume that our nation is too large for a functional, liberty-preserving republic, perhaps we can arrive at a formula that preserves individual freedom, limits the size and scope of the government and promotes property rights and prosperity.

Our federal government has grown too large and unwieldy for a number of reasons, but one that I suspect is critical is that our nation is too large for each of us to be instrumentally engaged and influential. Our federal administration has been regionalized with offices in nearly every major city in the country. At the same time, local governments and, to some degree, state governments have been creating regional alliances and divisions to handle many of the tasks that cross existing political boundaries. If governments at all levels are merging and cooperating to provide services…and limit personal freedom, why not exploit that impetus and construct a system of government that is more personal, encourages liberty and is more efficient and responsible? We could subdivide the 50 states into 6 to 10 smaller nations which share common interests, similar demographics and cultures. Each of these smaller countries would be sovereign, and the states that are included in them would be sovereign consistent with the present Constitution of the United States. The 6 to 10 smaller nations would unite in a confederation (similar to the Articles of Confederation) that would allow for and require common defense, free trade and open borders.

As an illustration of my proposal, what if North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming and Utah banded together to form the nation of “Plains?” Their primary export products would be wheat and petroleum from oil sands and deep well drilling. Other foodstuffs could be grown successfully throughout the country at a level that would sustain the new nation and allow some to be shipped outside the borders. Perhaps later some Canadian provinces would seek to establish something similar or join in with their southern neighbors. In that case Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan would be natural additions to the Plains. Under this scenario California may wish to form its own coastal mini-nation because of its broad-based economy and large population. Some of you may be shuddering at the prospect of a profligate California as a stand-alone nation, but I suspect that without the incessant federal mandates and regulations plus lacking the opportunity for a federal bailout, California would get its act together….or fail without dragging every other nation along.

Can a plan such as this be implemented? It does seem somewhat farfetched because most of the states have surrendered their 10^th Amendment powers and subordinated themselves to the federal leviathan. They probably wouldn’t have the courage or the vision to dissolve the national union to replace it with a series of smaller, more manageable and accountable units. While I have many reservations about the European Union and its negative impact on the individual nations, this arrangement would be the opposite of that one. The United States would devolve from a larger, awkward, smothering behemoth into a succession of lean and controllable affiliated nations. Instead of growing larger to achieve economies of scale and to create a homogeneous union where none had existed before, the North American experiment would unite various states into new nations that already share some degree of similarity with the others in their cluster. The realignment would create new nations wherein most of the populace would share common values and priorities. Discord and vituperative communication should be lessened as the political leadership and the people work for common ground.

As the resident goofball who is promoting this idea, I’m extremely happy that old Abe Lincoln is not President. If he were, he’d probably send General McClellan after me to quell the insurrection. I’m not too worried; however, because I’d probably die of old age before McClellan made a move. I understand that you might consider this idea a preposterous one, and you may be right. I love my country, and I truly fear for its future. Perhaps…just perhaps by breaking our nation into several pieces, we can preserve it. Finally, I suspect the whole will be greater than the sum of the parts if we reorganize into more manageable and homogeneous units.

This exercise was spawned by my desire to return our country to the spirit of our founding. I am aware, however, that times have changed, but bigger isn’t always better. Economy of scale isn’t necessarily more efficient or hospitable to individual liberty. Personal freedom should be the cornerstone of our nation(s).

Comment:  cearlwriting@hotmail.com     or    www.littlestuff-minoosha.blogspot.com