Littlestuff Weekender-12-3-2011

More rain has been forecast for this weekend here in Northwest Ohio. I do wish I had the financial resources and the space to construct a 10 trillion gallon cistern. I suspect and fear that fresh water will continue to grow in importance as long as desalination is not pursued on a massive scale. By the way a 10 trillion gallon cistern would be 6000 feet long by 5500 feet wide and 303 feet deep. Put another way, the cavity would be 1.14 miles long by 1.04 miles wide by more than 30 stories deep. In many ways it would resemble a missile bunker, and would require a very sophisticated pumping and retrieval system to be useful. You can send contributions to the email address below.

Question of the day: So is Newtie the anti-Romney? The anti-Obama? Or the latest flash in the GOP pan? As each candidate emerges then is crushed, it seems as if the flash pan is more like a bed pan. Our political environment has become poisonous when remarking that kids must learn to work is a deadly political faux pas. If the American people continue to allow the media and the progressive statists to control the national dialogue in such a ludicrous fashion, we are unworthy of liberty because it would be squandered on the stupid and lazy.

Remember when “The Partridge Family” seemed like a non-typical family? Or the Brady Brunch? Now, when a tight-knit traditional nuclear family becomes notable, it seems newsworthy. What a difference a generation can make. So let’s make a constitutional and liberty-based difference for the next generation. One generation cannot turn everything totally around, but it can redirect the momentum and jump-start the process. Although….one generation threw off the shackles of Great Britain, established a new nation and doubled its size with a purchase from France. Amazing things can happen in just one generation.

Birthers: I’ve written in an earlier column that the matter surrounding Obama’s birthplace is not a huge issue for me. I do believe that the President MUST be constitutionally eligible, and even more importantly, constitutionally faithful. If it were proven that Obama was ineligible to serve, the Congress would have to take measures to remedy the situation. So, I ask you….can you imagine Boehner or McConnell with Reid’s willing compliance undertaking such an action? Case closed. Bring on the election of 2012.

Truthers: One of my facebook entries ignited a thread between two of my loyal readers about the real cause of the 9/11 homicides of nearly 3000 Americans and foreign visitors. Again, I no longer trust my government, and I believe that a few of its agencies or power-hungry bureaucrats can go rogue at any time for the smallest of reasons. I cannot nor am I willing to spend mental and nervous energy trying to get to the bottom of that event. My focus is on returning to constitutional government wherein no one in government has the power or the resources to do grievous harm to the nation. Will that remedy prevent such malevolence? No….evil people do evil deeds, but good people should have the personal freedom to call them on it and hold them accountable. If it is ever proven beyond all doubt that our government was complicit in 9/11 and the subsequent cover up, then I will be more insist for change….by revolution if necessary. Even then, I would demand absolute proof that it was a formally sanctioned affair and not the brainchild of some loose screw who believed that precipitating such a horrendous event would stir the nation to confront the Islamic menace. Our DOJ’s agencies’ and Treasury agencies’ involvement in “Fast and Furious” has made me a greater skeptic than I was before. Nevertheless…to pursue the “Truther” threads requires more time and psychic energy that I have to spare. I would rather not go there.

New entry in the national lexicon:  Seabiscuit….USDA approved!

The global fiscal mess gets more tangled every day. The EU is about to implode. China’s high growth rates are triggering inflation and causing distress among the lowly paid laboring class. The problems in the industrialized nations are negatively impacting the emerging markets because fewer orders are being placed for assembly and raw materials. Any chain is only as good as its weakest link, and the global economic chain is loaded with weak links.

I only wish the Feds would go

And allow my garden to grow.

They always tell me what to do

With all the produce that I grew.

I don’t want their useless help

We’re going to eat it all ourselves.

Secession for Ohio….and maybe some nearby states…seems like a better option each and every day. The USA seems to be on a runaway underfunded high-speed train with no one controlling the throttle and brakes that do not work. With that cheery note, have a great weekend.

Comment: cearlwriting@hotmail.com

www.littlestuff-minoosha.blogspot.com

Tuesday 6-7:00pm, 1370 WSPD, Toledo  www.wspd.com

Forever and Longer

A significant portion of television advertising seems directed toward viewers who lust for immortality. Fitness clubs, magic weight removers or body buffers, life-extending bio supplements, and all types of safety enhancements for other products seem to suggest that many Americans are obsessed with living longer. While this thirst for eternal earthly life is good for commerce, I find at times that it makes me uneasy. Personally I’m aware of only one path to eternal life, and it does not involve Chuck Norris, Suzanne Somers, or Doctor “what’s-his-name.” When we read 1 Corinthians 15:55, we are led by Paul to consider that eternity in Glory is preferable to a lifelong search for terrestrial immortality. Daily life is not “a bowl of cherries” yet some people seem to cling to life until their fingers bleed….which brings me to laws, rules and regulations. They rarely die. They cling to life more tenaciously than any human or critter ever has. Like vampires, they are blood sucking and immortal.

Legislative enactments from Big Brother break more hearts than psoriasis. Bureaucratic rules outlast the half-life of Plutonium-239 (24,000+ years). Government regulations are more enduring than fruitcake. It is easier to pummel the wind than it is to end a nonsensical government enactment or pronouncement. It appears that so many of our citizens have become comfortable with the Nanny State that their efforts for unending life mirror the strings or laws their puppet masters have given them. Persistence is an attribute that should be celebrated, but when government persistently seeks to increase control, and citizens persistently cling to dependence, it’s a formula for ultimate collapse and disaster. Added to the insanity of never-ending rules, regs and laws is that phenomenon of government “reform.” They merely tweak the existing laws and add more to them to compound the confusion and …. control.

Government involvement in any aspect of our lives is similar to an irritating rash that will not go away. It annoys, distracts and undermines the productivity of the patient to the point of giving up on searching for a radical remedy. It’s when the patient cannot conceive of a workable remedy that he or she surrenders….loses hope. As the Nanny State and Big Brother continue to surround us with their web of laws and regulations, our freedom and mobility are restricted. Our maneuvering space becomes smaller and smaller as we seek the means for self expression and individual liberty. After a time the web becomes a cocoon and we are tightly encased in all-encompassing benevolent strands of government. We cannot move, and we cease trying.

Although I have never been a behavioral therapist or counselor, it seems to me that the longer an addictive behavior is practiced, the more difficult it is to escape it. Alcoholics Anonymous reminds its members that they are NOT former alcoholics, but they will ALWAYS be alcoholics. The drinking and the consequences of alcoholism may cease, but the desire for a drink will continue until death. I have spoken with former smokers who have remarked that more than two decades after quitting, they still wanted a cigarette. Rarely have I met someone who claimed that ending an addictive behavior was easy. On the contrary most recovering addicts are painfully aware of how difficult it is to stop engaging in an addictive behavior. So it is with governments’ addictions for power and control and our addictions for entitlements and benefits.

As governments weave their tapestries of laws on top of rules and across regulations, we are spellbound by the beauty and glory of the design while the expanding fabric becomes tighter and tighter with each new thread. Like a child in bed on a cold and frosty winter morning, we are reluctant to arise when Freedom calls to make our way through the cold reality of life. We prefer the warmth and comfort of the covers to the harsh brutality beyond. We burrow deeper under the governments’ tapestries while trying to ignore the cold outside.

Each thread the government weaves becomes a string for control. Each new law is another thread….another line to power. Each new rule intersects with others to form an inescapable structure. Every new regulation is a knot that strengthens the fabric beyond our abilities to break free. Each one…no matter how small, how insignificant or how ludicrous…each new rule erodes our liberty and enhances the power of the government. Each and every one. Our Liberty, an inalienable right, is being rapidly transformed into a forfeited right….a former right….an historical footnote…..a distant dream.

Laws, rules and regulations are forever. Oh certainly we get rid of a couple now and then but replace them with something more onerous. If our candidates for office refuse to acknowledge the supremacy of individual liberty as the bedrock principle of our nation, then at the very least we should be able to get them to understand the suffocating nature of our innumerable legal mechanisms for controlling public behavior….and limiting our prosperity. If the candidate is unwilling to pledge not to vote for passage of any more noxious laws, then perhaps his or her vocational choices should be limited to “road apple” duty following parades. I’m tired of egocentric know-it-alls taking my freedom. I’m sick of behaving like a willing stooge. I’m sick and tired.

Comment: cearlwriting@hotmail.com

www.littlestuff-minoosha.blogspot.com

Tue. night, 6-7:00pm, 1370 WSPD, Toledo  www.wspd.com

  

The Mindset Reaction

Thank you for so many responses to the Monday column, ”The National Mindset.” There were several hundred comments from the various distribution outlets that carry them. Without getting too far in the weeds, it appears that the reactions were nearly evenly split. All responses and comments are welcome, but there were a few of them that seemed especially noteworthy. As a preamble, I see my writing as something akin to poking a stick into the hornets’ nest. If you accept my premise and my argument, your task is to collect the hornets and put them in a different (and better) nest.

One of the most common responses that I get from many of my articles is “Sure you can fire your verbal missiles, but why don’t you shut up and do something about the mess we’re in?” Valid point. Thirty years ago as a member of the Ohio Legislature I often illustrated how government had grown too large and unwieldy. Back then I was considered an extremist, and when I looked behind me, no one was there…particularly not the one who criticizes my “inaction.” Another critique suggests that I treat the Tea Parties and similar groups too harshly. The diversity of the various groups is both strength and a weakness. The broad array of goals, methods and priorities minimizes the potential for “group think,” but the lack of central organization does dilute the power of the movement. I’ve used this example quite often in the recent past: In November of 2010 there were believed to be some 84 “Tea Party” candidates elected to the House, but with the very first meaningful vote only 22 GOP members held fast on the debt ceiling tally….and a few of them were incumbents. Thus, one has to assume that actual Tea Party power in the Congress turned out to be relatively minimal. That’s not a huge fault line in the movement, but it does to a degree illustrate the naiveté of the activists. Just because someone claims to be a small-government Republican doesn’t make it so. Until the various Tea Party organizations can consistently deliver small-government constitutionalists to office we will be marginal players on the political field. Most Republican candidates will seek our favor, but few will deliver. The Tea Party movement must be proactive…find potential  candidates, vet them thoroughly, and go to the wall to elect them.

Some writers respond that my columns are either too simple or too complex. Yes, they are. If you are a political sophisticate, then the columns will seem simplistic and obvious to you. On the other hand if you are relatively new to political and constitutional studies, the columns hopefully provide something of value. I view them as teaching tools rather than marching orders. I do not know how dedicated you may be, how much time you have available or what your personal priorities may be. Those factors are yours to assess. My personal priority is individual liberty….first, foremost and forever. Yours may be a sounder fiscal situation or a more moral society. This short little segment illustrates why “Tea Parties” have NOT become the dominant force in politics….diffused priorities.

It is extremely difficult to goad an indifferent person into productive political activity. It is much easier to assist the eager activist who’s seeking to identify a center of focus. Besides, the indifferent drones do not scan the sites where these columns appear. My purpose, therefore, is to incite anger, passion, awareness and commitment for liberty. When I am successful, individual liberty gains another convert….someone who understands that illegal immigrants, over spending, excessive borrowing and perks for government employees are not the real foundational issue(s). The issue is that government has exceeded its bounds, and our personal freedom becomes more limited every day. If we do not attack the problems of governments’ usurping our inalienable rights, any victory we win will be shallow, temporary and marginal. We may win on an issue, but like water seeking its own level, it will return at a different place under a different name. Statists and power-seekers are relentless. If we thwart their designs but leave our corrupted system in place, they will merely change their point of attack. We must strip our nation down to its structural roots, restore The Constitution as the supreme law of the land, and re-establish the Declaration of Independence as the principled beacon for our national journey.

So, critics are welcome because their involvement suggests some level of thought and active engagement. Even if a critic believes that one particular issue or party holds the key for our national restoration, that’s “OK.” A first step is vital for the trek to get underway. It is my fervent wish that people who become seriously engaged in the restoration movement look beyond the symptoms (issues) to the causes (limiting liberty and violating the Constitution). The issues are the kindling that stokes the fires of passion, but the principles and the bedrock fundamentals are the elements that feed the passion and allow it to carry on.  To the critics and to those who are complimentary…….carry on. As for me, my weapons of choice are the keyboard and the microphone…..for now.

Comments:  cearlwriting@hotmail.com

www.littlestuff-minoosha.blogspot.com

Tue. & Wed., 6-7:00pm, 1370 WSPD, Toledo  www.wspd.com

The National Mindset

Sometimes sentiments are contagious. A sense of panic among a few key people can thrust an entire community or nation into hyperventilation. An overwhelming sense of happiness and goodwill can infect hordes of people….look at how our generous spirits and senses of well-being are lifted during the Christmas season. Ann Coulter’s latest book, Demonic, explores the mob mentality that frequently prevails in certain high-tension situations. While pursuing PhD. Studies, my cognate or minor was in Social Psychology….a discipline for the study of social influence, social perception and social interaction. A brief summary of the field is that we humans are highly susceptible to the influence of others and often embrace a mob-like mentality when confronted by an undefined perceived threat.

Not all social contagions produce panic or hysteria. Some may lead to an overwhelming sense of futility and fatalism. Others may induce violent actions and unprovoked attacks on potential threats or presumed outliers. There are types of mass reactions that produce paralyzing fear. Mass cowardice is an element of fear paralysis. Risk-taking is assumed to be an unworthy enterprise because whatever reward may ensue does not return reasonable benefits. In my view the people of the United States are entrapped in a national mindset of cowardice. From our civil and civic leaders to our lowliest citizen we have calculated that high risk yields small rewards and is not worth the investment of time, talent, resources or reputation.

We have become a nation of cowards. We look to government to pay for our staples, subsidize our businesses, feed our children at school, and protect us from all imaginable harm in the universe. If we wish to explore a new avenue of learning, we seek a government grant. If we wish to enhance our education or start a business, we apply for a government loan. We insist that government license people who provide the most basic services so that we will not suffer the humiliation of “orange hair” or frizzy ends. Licensing is a form of risk management that limits the practitioners in certain fields, but many folks get their hair cut at home…so how long until government protects us from an overzealous Mother or Father wielding clippers and scissors? When government regulations or licensing make no sense, we comply without complaint. Think about it. Why should government license the clergy? Why should government intervene in a contract between God and an individual….or between a congregation and its chosen spiritual leader?

Our political leaders are blatantly cowardly….afraid to tackle pressing issues and problems head on for fear of antagonizing voters. They have wasted countless lives and an immense amount of our tax money by their unwillingness to take a stand and declare war when we are violently engaged. Our fearful citizenry continues to let the career political miscreants off the hook by reelecting a high percentage of them and failing to hold them accountable. We insist on supporting “creators” of the problems so they can solve them. We voters are too cowardly to change paths and demand responsible leadership. The politicians reward us by passing out goodies, bennies and mythical “safety nets.” We citizens KNOW that those actions are bankrupting our nation and our future, but we are too weak and too cowardly to say “NO.”

So, as a nation perhaps we should change our name to “Oz” and join with Dorothy, Toto, the Tin Man and the Scarecrow as we follow the mythical yellow brick road towards our national collapse. While we await some magical formula to provide us with the means to be strong and self-reliant, we can recite Bert Lahr’s notable line “….Courage!” Like the cowardly lion, however, perhaps we’ll discover that the courage we need resides within us. We have allowed cowardice to become our national mindset because we have become too fearful of risk taking.

I’ve heard bravery described as “an ordinary person who is afraid to fail.” I sense that definition is too simple. Our fear of failure has led us to expect the government to insulate us from any and all ill fortunes. Political bravery and national courage must be based on the principle that failure is preferable to tyranny. When government insulates and protects us, it also commands and restricts us. We must muster the courage to demand our liberty. We must insist that our political leaders weigh personal freedom as the highest value when they engage in their typical political calculations. We must stall tall and shrug off the artificial cloak of government protection. We must shed our cowardice and stand for liberty.

Comment:  cearlwriting@hotmail.com

www.littlestuff-minoosha.blogspot.com

Tue. 6-7:00pn, 1370 WSPD, Toledo  www.wspd.com