Disturbing Pragmatism

The purpose of this column is to inform Michigan Governor Rick Snyder (R) that, in my view, his priorities are misplaced. Governor Snyder has so far exhibited the aura of competence. His persona suggests that he is a highly competent manager and technocrat. His style is reminiscent of Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels (R) and GOP presidential contender Mitt Romney. All appear to be very proficient managers who are unwilling to allow ideology or political doctrine to interfere with their manipulation of the existing government apparatus. A Democrat from more than a quarter century ago projected a similar mindset. His name was Michael Dukakis. In a nation of more than 310 million people a technocrat is not needed or desirable. A principled focused leader is preferable.

It is always good to have a competent engineer at the controls when a train is hurtling down the track, but it is important that the engineer who designs the track and lays out the route has vision and a sense of direction. Competent engineers can work to keep the train on the rails, but they cannot change the direction of the track. We need visionaries to choose the direction for the nation and for liberty. Following the current track will not resolve our problems. We will continue to be bound by a rigid unyielding system that leads to more government and less freedom. We need leaders who have the courage to jump the track and forge a new path that restores the Republic and defends our liberty.

Proverbs 29:18 begins with “Where there is no vision the people perish….,” and my fear today is that we have no vision and our liberty is dying. Our leaders must have a burning desire for freedom and the will to secure liberty for all. Merely managing the ultimate enslavement of the citizenry is not visionary leadership. Accepting the status quo and its deadly direction is not acceptable. Visionaries, not functionaries, are needed to restore the Founders’ and Framers’ dreams. Our predecessors rightfully understood that our own inertia would result in the gradual erosion of our freedom, and they predicted our need for virtuous visionaries to lead the way. Now is the time. Petty competence and technocracy are too little, too late.

“Good enough” is no longer good enough. While business acumen is helpful, a passion for liberty is crucial. While an understanding of balance sheets is important, an awareness of the balance between the individual and the state is more critical. With the exception of Governor Romney the other two people that I mentioned at the beginning of this column are sitting Republican governors. Governor Daniels reluctantly signed Indiana’s Right-to-Work legislation and remarked on a Detroit radio station two weeks later that he was pleasantly surprised at the interest expressed for doing business in Indiana by some companies. Governor Snyder has publically stated that he does NOT want right-to-work legislation to cross his desk because it is too divisive and will distract from the important work of the state. Anal bureaucrats generally resent distracting anomalies. With our national trend on the wrong track, we need, we must encourage those who will bravely disrupt the old “business as usual” paradigm.

It’s true that visionaries are often idealists who foresee perfect outcomes for their grandiose initiatives. It is frequently desirable that visionaries must be surrounded by pragmatists who can implement their ideas and bring them to fruition. Pragmatism without vision becomes a number-crunching same old-same old. Pragmatists often revert to the routine and commonplace when facing monumental challenges. Pragmatic leaders should lean on the talent and enthusiasm of their more creative and passionate dreamers for solutions that are bold and striking. Clearly….sound leadership must include a mix of vision and competence, but people of vision are much rarer than managerial functionaries. We respect the top-notch manager, and we follow the idealistic dreamer. These perilous times require visionaries who will artistically describe the beauty of freedom and inflame the passions of the people to share their dreams.

Governor Snyder, I respect your task-oriented approach. Michigan’s plate of problems is heaped full. The previous administration (Granholm) was a socialistically oriented group of dreamers, but Michigan needs a counter dream to offset the smothering reality of the old one. Michigan must have a dream that leads to liberty and rejects misery. Michiganders must be able in their minds and hearts to share the glorious opportunity that individual freedom will deliver. They must hear it. They must learn it. They must know it, and they must want it. Positive leadership will stir the people of Michigan (and anywhere else) to seek freedom….to desire self-reliance….to thirst for opportunity.

We need leaders who will mount the white horses and lead us into battle. We will not follow those who ride the day-to-day donkeys of mere competence. We want inspiration, and we want it now. Pragmatically speaking, of course.

cearlwriting@hotmail.com

www.littlestuff-minoosha.blogspot.com

   

       

Littlestuff Weekender-2-18-2012

Thursday night I had the pleasure of visiting with my dear friends and fellow patriots of the North Central Ohio Conservatives. My topic was the Fed and the Economy, and I approached it primarily from a micro-economic perspective. Because so many members of the NCOC read these columns, I would like to add a brief macro-economic point of view. But first, I wish to extend many thanks to Jim and Jan Green, Marsha and Keith Rexroth for a great dinner and superb companionship.

With our artificially low interest rates mandated by the Fed, we are facing a national economic Armageddon in the near future. Our $16 trillion debt and our more than $100 trillion in unfunded liabilities added to the profligate spending by our governments at all levels means that our debt service (interest payments) are at astronomical levels and in grave danger of becoming impossible to maintain. Right now the federal government is paying less than 1% interest on the national debt because of the heavy-handed intervention by the Federal Reserve in the free market. If the situation in Europe disintegrates to the point that upward pressure on interest rates is unavoidable, the cost of servicing our U.S. debt will double, triple or perhaps soar out of sight. Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and all other entitlement programs will be severely affected as will national defense and every other government program….constitutional and unconstitutional. Our government’s emphasis will pivot from a buying-votes mentality to a taxing-for-survival oppressive approach. It won’t be pretty. It will be painful. We must prepare.

On a lighter note…..oh, there is no lighter note.

Next weekend…the 25^th and 26^th, I’ll be in Elizabethtown, Kentucky for the annual convention of the Libertarian Party of Kentucky (LPKY). I am honored to be their main speaker with the “Why Liberty, Why Now” message scheduled for 3:30pm on Saturday the 26^th. Thanks to Chairman Ken Moellman and his fellow Bluegrass defenders of liberty for inviting me.

Have you ever found yourself so engrossed in a task that you were unaware of what was happening around you? As I become more and more disturbed by the circumstances of our nation and the congressional failures to challenge the President and stop the bleeding, I suspect that those in Washington whom we expect to stop this mess are clueless. They are so engaged in the political aspects of their offices that they must be ignorant of our dire situation. We know that congress persons rarely read the legislation they pass, and that most of their time is devoted to fundraising and managing their public personas. Indeed, their failures to carefully monitor and understand the ramifications of their legislative activity are profound indictments of the untenable and unconstitutional massiveness of the federal government. It is far too large to be managed by 535 venal people. If the reach of the federal monstrosity were confined to the enumerated powers as listed in The Constitution of the United States of America, the 435 House members and the 100 senators could spread themselves broadly enough with fewer committees to effectively oversee the federal functions. Big is not necessarily better. Big is much worse, more dangerous and totally ineffective. The word that comes to mind that describes the precarious state of the nation is …….delegation. Too much delegation leads to entrenched bureaucratic fiefdoms and unaccountable career politicians.

It’s about time to start my garden seeds, but I’m somewhat hesitant. The winter has been so mild so far that it’s quite possible we will have a vengeful early spring thus delaying the transfer of the little plants to the outdoors. Decisions, decisions….I think I’ll start half of each species/variety now and the remainder in early March.

I read last week that North Korea had employed American-made drones that they purchased from Syria who had bought them as used surplus material from us with foreign aid money and credits we provided them. And some of you believe that Ron Paul’s foreign policy is “wacky.” Perhaps his is, but no one in his right mind and with a straight face can convince me that the one we have now and we have followed for years is working all that well.

Three Afghan nationals were intercepted in Texas after crossing into the U.S. over the southern border. I wonder how many we’ve missed so far. Meanwhile Granny continues to get fondled at the Charleston, W.V. airport and every other interior landing spot that features nothing but domestic air traffic. More government wisdom and efficiency is on display to calm the fears of the citizens. They have semantically disemboweled “protect and defend” until it has become “harass and annoy.” These are the baby steps of a tyranny quickly growing to raging adolescence. It seems that the time has passed for correcting the child in the way that he should go. The only logical response is to sentence the culprits to a juvenile detention center.

Greg Ruffner, candidate for Wood County Commissioner, will be my guest on Tuesday’s show. My little audio battle for liberty begins at 6:00pm and ends at 7:00pm on the Talk of Toledo, 1370 WSPD.

www.wspd.com

Have a great remainder of the weekend. Enjoy President’s Day on Monday by celebrating the few who were constitutionally faithful….shouldn’t take too long. We’ve only had 44 of them and the way things are going, we may not have many more…..if any.

cearlwriting@hotmail.com

www.littlestuff-minoosha.blogspot.com

  

The Base and the "Bots"

Many of you readers already know that I am a “reformed” Republican. For 42 years I was an active member of the GOP. I served on the County Central Committee, as a campaign chairman for several candidates and as an elected State Representative in the Ohio General Assembly. My first memorable political activity was as a six-year old handing out “I Like Ike” buttons in front of Groman’s Market in Tiffin, Ohio. Dwight D. Eisenhower gained the 1952 Presidential nomination by defeating an Ohioan, Senator Robert Taft. As a youth, I was proud to claim the former General as my President, but as I have matured---both chronologically and politically—I find that Senator Taft, Mr. Republican, more closely represented the values and principles that I hold dear.

My discouragement with the drift of the Republican Party caused me to suspend my activism for a couple of years until I discovered and researched the principles and goals of the Libertarian Party. If you would do a “Google Search” for Senator Taft, Mister Republican, you would note that he was fighting the Eastern Establishment in the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s for the soul of the GOP. He lost. Following his death in 1953 there was no one with the stature and the credibility to carry the torch for the founding principles of the Republican Party. The “Establishment” took and held control with some blips up until and including today. Constitutionalists are not welcomed in the present-day GOP. Small government advocates are patronized. The party is committed to Big Government and power sharing with their colleagues, the statist Democrats. It is an unholy alliance between two groups of crony capitalists who are absolutely committed to increasing government influence and control over our lives.

Robert Taft vigorously opposed the New Deal and its massive expansion of federal power. Senator Taft sought to curb the power of labor unions. He was a major proponent of an anti-interventionist foreign and military policy. He attacked deficit spending, high farm subsidies, government bureaucracy, the National Labor Relations Board and government health insurance. Senator Taft believed in a strong defense that served to protect the United States….not to be deployed all over the world as the Big Brother/Big Bully of the planet. In short Mr. Republican was a Libertarian. The Republican Party left him behind as it became more global, more intrusive and less principled. The current crop of Establishment sell-outs refer to the legions of conservative GOP voters as “the base.” Apparently they view the base as something to stand on when reaching high for statist power. They must be thrilled because time after time despite their being treated shabbily; the base falls in line like happy sheeple and continues the status quo. Yesiree, they can count on their cowardly base to save their seats of power every time.

The base is those who reside on the bottom of the power pyramid. I left the base in 2004, and this year I chose to become a “Bot.” My greatest concern as an American is our liberty. Every new law, rule or regulation passed by Establishment Republicans and Socialist Democrats erodes my freedom and limits my opportunities. Senator Taft has passed on, but Dr. and Congressman Ron Paul carries the torch for him. I am now a “Paulbot.” The clones and apologists for the status quo establishment Big Government GOP laugh at us, deride us, call us names and try to dismiss us. But we persist. Is Ron Paul the perfect messenger for a theme of liberty? No, he is not. If I were his communication director, I would frequently cringe when his candor trumps his political instincts. He is the best we have on the scene for saving our nation from the ruling class elites who will destroy us.

Fortunately….I’m not totally without ammo in this attempt to save our Republic from certain collapse. If the Establishment succeeds in nominating their anointed preference, then Gary Johnson on the Libertarian ticket is the next logical choice. Anyone who chooses between Mitt Romney and Barrack Obama faces a Hobson’s Choice because they represent the same outcome with only a matter of degrees in difference. I refuse to willingly and actively promote the destruction of our nation. “But Charlie,” you might say,” you’ll split the vote and Obama will win.” Perhaps….but if either Obama or Romney wins, our people lose. I refuse to surrender now….or ever. I would rather go down with honor than to “lose by winning.” I will not be taken for granted and stomped on like the reliable “base.” I am a “Bot.” Deal with it. And if we win and liberty survives, you can thank me and others like me who will never be debased by lying career politicians. Liberty….first, foremost and forever.

Comment: cearlwriting@hotmail.com

www.littlestuff-minoosha.blogspot.com

Littlestuff Weekender-1-21-2012

South Carolinians are voting in the primaries today (Saturday). If the most recent polls are correct, Newt Gingrich should eke out a victory. This development would mean that Santorum narrowly wins Iowa, Romney cruises in New Hampshire and Gingrich nails the first Southern contest. Delegate apportionment is all over the map, but it appears that Ron Paul will be hanging in there in second place with committed delegates. Newt’s victory (if it occurs) would suggest that Republicans of South Carolina detest the main stream media more than they loathe marital infidelity. Newt’s response to CNN’s John King’s opening question in the Thursday night debate seems to have catapulted him into a true contender despite the allegations from his former wife, Marrianne. The situation, as they say, is fluid. The steady one is Dr. Paul which is reflective of his consistency and reliability. Santorum is having difficulty gaining traction and Romney often appears to be weak and indecisive. Stay tuned. Florida is next.

While most political watchers were focused on the goings-on in South Carolina, the Congress and the Executive Branch absconded with more of your liberty and increased our national indebtedness. Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary for HHS, RULED that all private health insurance plans MUST include certain contraceptive aids with NO co-pay for everyone in the plan….regardless of gender or moral and religious objections. The dictate is not only offensive, but it will make the private plans more costly for everyone….companies and insured. If I were cynical ( and I am), I would think this is a blatant attempt to put financial pressure on private insurers and companies thus increasing the likelihood that they might prefer a government insurance plan in the future.

Public outcry and reactions forced the tabling of the SOPA legislation in the House. Supporters of the over-reaching effort to protect copyrights and intellectual property admitted that there were some vaguely written portions of the bill that could allow bureaucrats a broad area for engaging in 1^st Amendment mischief. The bill was shelved…..for now. Be prepared because it will probably reappear as an obscure amendment to an appropriations bill sometime in the near future. Statists of the two old parties do not give up in their efforts to exercise control over us. They merely postpone the most egregious efforts until our interests are focused elsewhere.

The anti-human, anti-progress progressives won a small victory when President Obama delayed his decision about the Keystone Pipeline from Canada to the Gulf Coast because of “environmental concerns.” Actually….as he often does, he blamed the delay on someone else….his own Department of State…because of the international aspect of the pipeline’s crossing our border with Canada. Trans-Canadian, the company that is developing the pipe line announced that they were trumping the Socialist-in-Chief by constructing a domestic line from the Dakotas to the Gulf thus avoiding for now the international aspects. I’ll wager the federal government and its Marxist leader will devise, create, make-up or discover another compelling reason for refusing to allow more private sector jobs and energy independence. I do not recall ever witnessing such a collection of anal orifices in our country in my lifetime. We’ve always had them lurking around trying to undermine liberty and increase government power, but it seems as if they have metastasized almost beyond treatment. Radical surgery appears to be our last best hope. Electing another statist with a slower-moving agenda will not do, we need a surgeon who’s capable, consistent and committed to the task of putting the monster back into its cage.

If any of the candidates for President says they would have signed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), they should immediately be dismissed as a serious contender for the office. Their answer indicates one of two things: they see no problem with the military detaining U.S. citizens without trial or habeas corpus rights….which makes them an enemy of the Constitution of the United States and an adversary of freedom; or they are too stupid, ignorant and clueless to serve. Why anyone….let alone a serious candidate for Chief Executive…would endorse increasing the power of the Federal Government at this time is beyond comprehension for any person with reasonable cognitive ability.

Government is force (see Bastiat, The Law). Even in its most benign applications it represents an oppressive passive coercion. It may introduce legislation, rules or regulations that clearly violate the natural rights of individuals, but if the aggrieved parties lack the resources or the power to fight back, their liberties will be denied forever as the government moves on to the next unwitting victim. Promoting a larger footprint for government at any level suggests that one is either a masochist or a collectivist. Both maladies are evidence of sickness and must be exorcised and discarded. “Soft” tyranny always hardens as time moves on. Tyranny is deadly. It kills the spirit, the soul and the dreams of the people. It must be restricted and defeated every time it rears its ugly head. Liberty must prevail….first, foremost and forever!

Comment: cearlwriting@hotmail.com

www.littlestuff-minoosha.blogspot.com

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