Spasms of Sanity

There are 435 voting Congresspersons in the United States House of Representatives plus 100 Senators who represent all the citizens in the 50 states of the republic. There are also non-voting members from the territories and the District of Columbia. Once in a while they do get something right. I describe those oh-so-rare moments as “spasms of sanity.” One would think that in the entire 225 year history of our constitutional republic that there would be an overwhelming number of spasms to celebrate, but unfortunately most of their spasmodic behavior has been directed toward the erosion of our liberties and the destruction of our nation.

The tiny moments of government lucidity are rare. For the most part they spend their time and efforts constructing barriers to our prosperity and restrictions to our personal freedom. Although at some level they attempt to do the will of the people, they are captives of special interests, large contributors and agenda-driven do-gooders. Many of our elected officials seem to have abandoned every element of common sense that they may have possessed prior to their assuming office. It is as if they underwent a massive brain-draining vacuuming upon taking the oath of office….. oaths which they promptly ignore shortly after lowering their right hands. Some conspiracy theorists would suggest that government officials’ minds are mysteriously controlled by Bilderbergs, TriLateralists or the Illiminati. I’m not certain of the sources of the mental destruction, but I am painfully aware of its results. Personally, I suspect that there are elements embedded in the marble and granite found throughout Washington, D.C., that irradiate brain matter and destroy brain cells. My theory may not be true, but it has as much validity as any of the others for explaining the perplexing loss of intelligence and sense by our political “leaders.”

Clearly our exalted leaders are not stupid. They successfully convinced enough people that they were competent and capable in order to gain elective office. The mysterious loss of mental capacity seems to generally occur after the electoral battle has been won. Correspondingly, there also appears to be a massive erosion of ethics and integrity to complement the striking reduction in mental acuity. In addition it seems that with each successful re-election, the problem becomes startlingly more acute. The longer they “serve,” the “dumber” they get. In fact some of the senior members of Congress and the bureaucracy appear to have NO BRAINS AT ALL (see: Charlie Rangel, John Conyers, John Dingell, and Barbara Boxer). Congressman Rangel, for example, despite being a dedicated advocate of “soaking the rich” taxation policy to generate the funds for his welfare-based vote-buying schemes….is a notable tax scofflaw who owes the people of this nation a sizable sum of unpaid taxes. The most tragic stupidity of all, however, is the incessant mental deficiencies of the people who continually send such reprobates back into the halls of power… term after term.  

Perhaps… rather than celebrating the occasional spasms of sanity that emit from the halls of government, we should yearn for frequent spasms of intelligence from the eyes-in-the-headlights electorate. That may be an ideal that is far too optimistic. Despite our nation’s obvious slide into the pit of fiscal, social and moral ruin, voters continue to re-elect the brain-dead zombies who orchestrated the fall because they promise to correct the problem. So who….really….is the brain impaired party here? So…given our electoral history, the public’s lack of constitutional knowledge, and the unwillingness of our people to accept personal responsibility, it appears we have reaped as we have sown.

In the final analysis the true spasms of sanity must be experienced by those of us who observe the decay of the United States. Our voters, their elected leaders and the bureaucratic masters are all glowing examples of chronic and persistent liberty-free zombies. They are brainless, soulless and heartless. As we glance at the culture that has overtaken us, we must ignite our spasms of sanity by digging our bunkers, growing our food, stocking our ammo and…… grabbing our ankles. It will get ugly. When I look at so-called harsh measures such as the Paul Ryan budget plan and its feeble approach to our fiscal crisis, I am motivated to withdraw and prepare. When I hear voter after voter praising the Ryan solution and falling for the false promise of proficient government management, I know that my personal sovereignty has been compromised beyond recovery. Minimal measures are not solutions. They are illusions. Dream on, America. Sleep well. Finally….the unspoken question must be asked. If everyone around me is insane, am I the only person who has spasms of sanity? Or…. is everyone else in complete control of their mental faculties and I am the loony outlier? Crazy world, isn’t it?

cearlwriting@hotmail.com

www.littlestuff-minoosha.blogspot.com

Littlestuff Weekender-11-12-2011

It appears that Ohio will be sharing the spotlight with Wisconsin as battleground states in the effort by citizens to regain control over their governments and their lives. Just two days following the 2011 elections which featured the sound defeat of Issue 2, the reformation of public sector workers rules, and the overwhelming victory for Issue 3, the rejection of ObamaCare, the language for a proposed “Workplace Freedom Amendment” was submitted along with a number of petitions to Attorney General Mike DeWine. The nascent state constitutional amendment is, in essence, a right to work provision to make Ohio more competitive and attractive for employers. Chris Redfern, Chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party, immediately vowed to fight the newer initiative as vociferously as the party and its union allies did Issue 2. Here you go Buckeye State residents the line is in the sand. Let the sides be chosen and the battle commence. Get moving, get active, get jobs for Ohio… go to www.ohioconstitution.org and read the clear cut language for providing choice for Ohio’s workers and prosperity for our citizens.

Some political operatives and Tea Party leaders are concerned that an all-out effort for right-to-work could further activate unions and distract from the primary task of electing constitutional candidates next year. Others submit that forcing the unions to spend $40 million in Ohio to fight right-to-work could drain resources and focus from them. It’s a toss-up, and the “Workplace Freedom Amendment” language still has to be approved by the Attorney General followed by the collecting of more than 386,000 valid signatures from Ohio voters. As we move further into 2012, perhaps the timing issues will become clearer.

Most of us…deep within …know right from wrong. Those of us who practice an active faith are guided by the precepts and principles of that system of belief when we encounter behaviors or ideas that are clearly outside the boundaries of acceptance. The believer rejects wrong. The courageous believer fights wrong and calls it out when she/he sees it. The tragedy at Penn State is illustrative of what our nation has become today. Many people including those in positions of authority knew that there was a stench of decay in Happy Valley. Yet, they chose to remain silent or actively participate in hiding the awful truth of the loathsome behavior. In many respects the silence is worse than the original debauchery because clearly those who knew about it should have known that it was despicable. Whether they were protecting a university, a football program, a coach’s reputation or an individual doesn’t matter. They observed wrongdoing and remained silent. God has already judged Jerry Sandusky for his exploitation and sin, and He must be dismayed by the spineless display from others who knew.

Our idyllic life here at the Little Pat-Ch of Paradise has been somewhat representative of life in general for the past few weeks. Some people very dear to us are sick….perhaps mortally so. Our water pump from the well stopped last Friday night. Fortunately it needed a new sensor…otherwise we would have needed to pull the jet up from its 100 foot spot in the well casing. A vehicle of unknown origin severed our high-speed internet/cable line at the entry point from the highway onto our property so we were somewhat hamstrung in our abilities to contact and communicate with the outside world. One of our trucks needs a transmission. We must carry on. Fix what we can and pray about everything else. As that little redhead sings….”the sun will come up tomorrow.”

Kudos to John McAvoy and his legions of committed volunteers for their successful petitioning and victorious Election Day outcome for their citizen-generated, citizen-promoted Ohio constitutional Amendment effort on State Issue 3. Y’all done good.   

Our radio schedule this week has been expanded. We will be in our usual Tuesday and Wednesday 1-hour slots plus I’ll be sitting in for Brian Wilson from 3-6pm Friday. More opportunities to “stir the pot,” “shake the bush,’ and “rattle their chains.”

Comment:  cearlwriting@hotmail.com

www.littlestuff-minoosha.blogspot.com

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

Friday—3-6:00pm, 1370 WSPD

Consistent Inconsistency

There are two salient items about this column you should know. First, this piece is somewhat of a collaborative effort because I raised the topic during my Wednesday radio show (11/9/2011), and several folks chimed in with their valuable observations. Second, I’m submitting this piece in the middle of my constitutional restoration series because of its timely application for the task we have before us. Today’s column is titled “Consistent Inconsistency,” and examines the recent votes in Ohio on two very important statewide issues. Issue 2 was a measure to repeal SB 5 which radically altered the relationship between public sector workers in Ohio and their various political subdivisions and school districts. It had massive union support---both public and private sector—for repeal….a “No” vote was necessary to NOT IMPLEMENT the original legislation. Issue 3 was a citizen-generated proposed state constitutional amendment forbidding the federal government from requiring an individual mandate for healthcare coverage in Ohio. In essence, it was a re-affirmation of the 10^th Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America. It had the added benefit of providing some measure of courage and backbone for state legislators who have been historically reluctant to challenge the federal government.

At first blush it would seem that the two issues are similar in many ways. Both appear to be a slap at larger, more costly government, and each would seem to reinstate an element of citizen control over critical aspects of their lives. So why did Issue 2 fail by a 61-39% margin while Issue 3 passed by 66-34%? The state public sector reforms were soundly defeated, and the anti-federal attempt to mandate individual health insurance coverage and premiums was passed overwhelmingly. There are probably some unemployed psychologists who could offer a number of explanations for the supposed schizophrenic behavior of the Ohio voters, but they would probably be too complex, meaningless or downright goofy.

The majority of our callers and I agree that the seemingly disparate votes were amazingly consistent. In both cases the voters rejected big government over-reaching. The federal example is starkly clear. The state legislation had a number of strategic and tactical flaws that led to its resounding clobbering. The comprehensive omnibus nature of SB 5 obviously incurred the wrath of public sector employees, but it also bred an element of distrust among the general electorate. Large overly-broad bills that impact multiple sections of the Ohio Revised Code (ORC) activate the suspicions of voters whose confidence in their governments’ leadership and integrity has been severely eroded. Big thunderous and radical change from either the federal government or the state government especially when consolidated in a single piece of complicated legislation arouses the “wary detectors” in many citizens. There are some aspects of the public employees’ relative positions with their communities that many people might desire to alter, but the massive complexity of the bill stoked the ire of every public employee union, their families and their friends. The firefighters and police should have been omitted from this bill so that the national and state union organizations would not have “public safety” as an issue. Their lying threats in their advertising foreshadowed the actual outcome that will occur as a result of Issue 2’s failure. Local governments will continue to have minimal flexibility in their negotiations with their employees. Binding arbitration requirements and non-invested arbitrators will force unworkable contracts on the communities … forcing them to sever or layoff critical personnel.

Voter ignorance, however, may not have been the primary reason for the failure of Issue 2 while Issue 3 was sailing easily into passage. Two major issues, each with a “let’s regain control” component actually had similar outcomes despite the nearly mirror difference in voter approval. To this observer there appeared to be some voter discernment being exercised on Election Day…..and the nearly endless early-voting period that preceded it. From a practical and strategic point of view I suspect the voters may have selected the wrong option on Issue 2, but I believe that I understand why they did so. The massive expenditure of union millions, the importation of union workers from out of state, and the union emphasis on early voting to minimize the impact of pro-Issue 2 advertising on voters all contributed to the margin of victory. With a mere 350,000 public employees in Ohio and the overall union percentage of the work force lower than 15%, those stratagems cannot account for all of the 61% “No” votes particularly in the context of the massive approval for Issue 3. It seems to have been a somewhat calculated discerned decision. In both issues the people of Ohio rejected big government solutions.

It seems rather frivolous to be discussing political decision-making on a day that is set-aside to honor those who have nobly served our nation. Their commitment and sacrifices have preserved our opportunities for deciding how we shall be governed. May those of you who have worn the uniform of our nation with honor and dedication please note that we thank you and wish for you the greatest of blessings. We salute you.

Comment:  cearlwriting@hotmail.com

www.littlestuff-minoosha.blogspot.com

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

Hearts and Minds

Sometimes I get so frustrated that I could chew through my restraints. I attend events with people who express their anger about the current state of affairs in our government, and then worry about “wasting” their votes. My mental trampoline responds with”What? Waste your vote? Take a look around you, Buford! You’ve been wasting your vote for forty years or more.”


Then I listen to some folks who have the right principles to reset this country on a corrective course, and they don’t want to shake this bush by confronting the weak-minded types. Instead of the Irresistible Force versus the Immovable Object, we have weak-willed pseudo-patriots versus passionless principled pain-in-the-asses. Sometimes we have inarticulate screamers attempting to sway brain-dead purists. No wonder we’re screwed up. No wonder we are so absolutely screwed. We get what we deserve, and we deserve what we get.

Dear Reader, absolute purity and perfection are not available for us. That is why we have grace. On the other hand, political candidates who are on the outside looking in must do more than mildly reason with the voters…or screech at them. Voters must understand that the Founders willingly forfeited their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor because they believed in the principle of a smaller less intrusive government. If the Founders risked everything except their souls for the principle of freedom, why are you, the voters, so afraid to risk a vote…to “split the vote” for principle. You apparently are much too cowardly to have been a Founder. You must be a Tory.

Candidates who challenge the status quo by asking for citizens to vote for principled leadership must be worthy of assuming the role of leader. A clown with good ideas is still a clown, and people will not follow him. He lacks credibility. On the other hand, voters who claim to be weary of professional politicians, nevertheless, use that very professionalism as a standard when weighing their options. They seem to want candidates who aren’t professional to act as if they are, and conversely, they want their professional perpetual politicians to be more like them…the normal citizen. Guess what? Everybody loses.

James Madison was just less than 5 feet 4 inches tall and spoke with a high-pitched voice, but when he spoke…people listened. He is the individual most responsible for the development of the Constitution of the United States. He probably wouldn’t get a hearing today because he doesn’t conform to our image of a statesman and a leader. In this age of glitz and glamour, he would be dismissed because he doesn’t look the part. Before candidates start to feel sorry for themselves because they share some of the physical attributes that Madison, they should note that what he said was worthy of notice. He didn’t screech platitudes and slogans or become obsessed with jots and tittles. He spoke from the heart using a reasoned mind and a passionate love of liberty. Not bad for a pipsqueak, huh? Final note…our candidates need more reason and passion and our voters need more guts.

Comment or email: cnpearl@woh.rr.com