Sunday’s Quote: Securing the Republic

The older I get, the more I appreciate the Founders. One of them, an original Tea Partier, offered a bit of wisdom for some of the vexing ills we face today.

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“No people will tamely surrender their Liberties, nor can any be easily subdued, when knowledge is diffused and Virtue is preserved. On the contrary, when People are universally ignorant, and debauched in their Manners, they will sink under their own weight without the aid of foreign Invaders.”

~ Samuel Adams, from his letter to President of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress James Warren; November 4, 1775

The difference

Our nation is divided among ideological lines like never before. Here is, in my humble opinion, the best way to view the opposing sides:

Original source unknown

Us vs. Them

As I've said before, friends on Facebook post some of the best stuff. When words alone aren't enough. . .

Just Thinking Out Loud: "The Real Enemy"



 c/o Miami New Times

A recent meeting sponsored by the Congressional Black Caucus in Miami that was intended to address a persistent lack of inner city job growth turned partisan when Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Florida, aka The Mad Hatter) said "Let us all remember who the real enemy is. . . the real enemy is the Tea Party. . . the Tea Party holds the Congress hostage."

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-California) expressed a similar opinion in her district a couple of days earlier, saying that Tea Partiers could go "straight to hell" for their purported, and still unexplained, role in obstructing employment opportunities for those who aren't of the Caucasian persuasion.

This reflects the very nature of the self-righteous beast: Dare to differ from the Obama administration for any reason, and you're held by their protagonists in the most negative regard possible.  Dogmatic partisanship has always been part of the scene, but the difference is that race (and all its tentacles) is now front and center of almost every discussion.

When there isn't a retort that suits their preferences – and when there is nowhere else to go with their talking points – the Left almost invariably screams bloody racist murder, which is only meant to impede constructive discussion and is never, under any circumstances, intended to promote the ever-elusive common ground by which a beneficial end may be reached.

Perhaps those who don't label the gradual crumbling of our nation as progress aren't "the real enemy."  And yes, thinking that makes me a racist.

Sunday's Quote: The wisdom of the past (and how it can impact our future)

Picture by Carl Mydans, c/o LIFE

In my lifetime, a scant 35 years, the United States has digressed from being the greatest creditor nation in the world to, as you have no doubt heard, the most prolific debtor nation in history.  So like it or not, perhaps the worst possible news is all but official: communist China is now the top dog (oh God I hope to be wrong about that).  And we only have ourselves, and more specifically, our so-called leaders, to blame.

Standard & Poor's federal credit relegation isn't necessarily a sign of the apocalypse by any means, but it could very well be an indicator of things to come.  A couple of notable Americans, born 131 years ago almost to the day, offer their astute insight into the palpable and growing concern among those of us who, for the first time, cannot speak about the future of our country with complete certainty:

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"The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out . . . without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos.  Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable."
– H.L. Mencken (1880-1956), journalist, satirist and all-around critic

"History fails to record a single precedent in which nations subject to moral decay have not passed into political and economic decline.  There has been either a spiritual awakening to overcome the moral lapse, or a progressive deterioration leading to ultimate national disaster."
– Douglas MacArthur (1880-1964), simply one of the most important military figures in our nation's history

Just Thinking Out Loud: A couple of real blondes

When you're at your best, Britney, nobody's better.  And I do mean nobody.  But when you're at your worst, my dear... well, that's another matter.  But regardless of the now characteristic unpredictability, you will always be my favorite crazy chick.

Meghan McCain should make it official and jump to the other party.  Although John's daughter evidently has a lot to say, all anyone really hears when she opens her mouth is, "Blah blah blah ... The Right Wing is too conservative ... blah blah blah ... My dad lost because of Sarah Palin ... blah blah blah ... Obama is awesome ... blah blah blah ... The Tea Party is stupid ... blah blah blah ... My boobs are real ... blah blah blah ... I sold my soul to Satan ... blah blah blah."

Sunday's Quote: Unrelated, but culturally relevant

A couple that caught my attention recently...

"Since the first celebrities emerged, mixing their work and their lives in powerful dreams of projected personality, the possibility of confusing art and reality has existed.  The man considered by some (but not me) to be the world's first celebrity, Lord Byron, was a great poet, but that's not why so many admirers asked for locks of his hair that he reportedly had to start sending out clippings from his dog, Boatswain.  Men and women adored Byron because, according to one woman who slept with him, he was 'mad, bad, and dangerous to know.'  The greatest American actor of the nineteenth century, Edwin Booth, thought his career was over when his brother shot President Lincoln.  He soon learned that audiences worshipped [sic] him more — and worshipped [sic] his tortured performances of 'Hamlet' and 'Julius Caesar' more — because they knew about his personal tragedy.  And the great celebrities of the twentieth century ... ran away from the cameras, but this only made their fans eager to see more and know more.  Today, celebrity has become a perpetual enterprise of more, with Twitter acting as both the engine and the agent of unending revelation.  Jump on or jump off. ...

"Kanye [West] has jumped on.  Like every hip-hop artist today, Kanye sees himself as a brand and dreams of total integration of himself with everything that can conceivably be consumed.  But being a brand involves being both more than a human being and less, which may explain why there's a wild, frantic sadness to his personality, or what Cyril Connolly once described as the 'fugitive distress of hedonism.'  To be a brand is ultimately to be a hollow thing.  Like a bell.  The hollowness of Kanye West rings out and his distress only makes him more attractive.  Being a brand has its own demands, and they are growing more and more pressing by the second.  Kanye at least is willing to go all the way.  'I'm living in the future so the present is my past. / My presence is a present, kiss my ass,'  he says in 'Monster.'  All that in just ninety-two characters."
-- from "Why Can't Kanye West Shut the Hell Up?" by Esquire contributor Stephen Marche

"There's a climate of hate out there, all right, but it doesn't derive from the innocuous use of political clichés.  And former Gov. Palin and the tea party movement are more the targets than the source."
-- from "The Arizona Tragedy and the Politics of Blood Libel" by Wall Street Journal columnist Glenn Harlan Reynolds

As a fear of being labeled fades...

Just as an entire neighborhood is not ruined by a single bad house, neither is the Tea Party movement impeded by a couple of bad apples.  A quick turn of the mirror shows that groups such as the NAACP have been railing against the Tea Party since its inception, so their self-righteous indignation over a billboard in northern Iowa should come as no surprise.

Every faction of society, without exception, has a kook fringe.  But some have more than others.  Selective outrage is galling and spiritless, especially when it comes against Constitutional advocates.  Tactics of deflection, such as calling an opposing perspective "racist" -- the mother of all fallbacks -- just to keep their own motive(s) from being exposed no longer abates the increasingly veritable dissident.  Indeed it now legitimizes them.

Ideology may have let this mostly Right Wing tiger out of his cage, but all is not lost for the Democrats.  If you remember that Bill Clinton's election in 1992 inspired the Republican Revolution in '94, then fair-minded individuals are also likely to recall the GOP's sloppy handling of hot button issues (term limits, ethics rules, deficit spending) that ultimately played a roll in Clinton's easy re-election.  Though such history is not a certain indicator of things to come, at least in the political arena, the impact of the November midterm elections on Obama's 2012 presidential run is hardly etched in stone as well.

Sunday's Quote: 140-character maximum

I often wondered about having my own Twitter feed, and now that I've had this virtual soapbox since mid-March, I understand it's appeal.  Aside from the first dozen or so Tweets that went missing (and never recovered), I have derived a list -- originally intended to be a top 10 -- of my 40 personal favorites:

1) "I'm not a vegetarian, but picking off an unsuspecting deer like a sniper does not appeal to me, nor would it make me feel more like a man."
-- May 6, 4:44 AM

2) "The FAA is about to fine FedEx $1.6 million.  My bad."
-- May 19, 1:11 PM

3) "Atheism doesn't seem nearly as plausible when your jetliner takes an unexpected nosedive at 37,000 feet."
-- April 18, 6:32 AM

4) "There's a difference between antiquated dogma and Truth.  The meaning of Good Friday is what separates Christianity from all the others."
-- April 2, 3:08 PM

5) "Does it feel like we are being conditioned to ignore the evidence directly in front of our faces per a fear of being falsely labeled?"
-- May 28, 3:12 AM

6) "Be not guilt-tripped into submission.  Ever."
-- May 31, 3:29 PM

7) "Hey China, how many illegals do you have?  I figured you were too busy oppressing political dissidents and the Tibetans to notice us."
-- May 17, 5:07 PM

8) "Black Conservatives are practically heroes to me.  They know what they believe, why they believe it, & and are prepared to defend it anytime."
-- April 6, 6:25 PM

9) "My first lesson in management came about eight years ago: When everyone says 'You can trust me,' it means you can't trust anyone."
-- May 22, 3:18 AM

10) "When a Leftist (Jon Stewart) says 'Go F yourself,' it's funny & cool.  If a Right Winger says the same thing, it's bigoted and mean-spirited."
-- April 21, 5:44 PM

11) "I've learned that you can't make a self-esteem omelet without breaking a few 'friendships' (no matter how good they may appear to be)."
-- May 13, 12:05 PM

12) "I'm assuming Fox News has a rule that says female anchors, unequivocally, must resemble Miss America contestants."
-- March 28, 1:37 PM

13) "As if The View wasn't mind-numbing enough, who told Joy Behar that having her own show would be a good idea?"
-- May 25, 6:15 PM

14) "Not to brag, but I am intelligent, passionate, and blessed with exquisite taste."
-- April 9, 5:15 AM

15) "Mexico doesn't hesitate to deport anyone who enters their country without proper ID... but America can't?  I'm really beside myself on this."
-- April 27, 8:22 PM

16) "Never yield to false labels."
-- May 10, 4:51 PM

17) "Actually Mr. President, a nation without borders is no nation at all.  So yes, we really are defined by our borders.  Stop with the rhetoric."
-- May 19, 11:12 AM

18) "'Jersey Shore' typifies everything I dislike, belittle, and strive to avoid.  Just sayin'."
-- March 29, 3:15 PM

19) "An Andy Warhol self-portrait (c. '86) sold three days ago for over $32.5 million.  That, my friends, is lunacy."
-- May 15, 5:24 PM

20) "Hey Rev. Al: 'Take our country back' is, indeed, code.  It means 'Socialism sucks.'  Implying a racial context is garbage."
-- March 29, 4:27 PM

21) "The Left is fixated with the mere idea of H.C. reform, and the Right is focused on its fiscal reality.  The difference is self-explanatory."
-- March 28, 7:14 PM

22) "Do kids today realize that the vast majority of the music their generation listens to is complete crap?"
-- April 1, 1:55 AM

23) "I hear that Aerosmith 'damn near' split up.  Maybe playing some real Rock 'n' Roll, instead of pop songs, would heal old wounds."
-- March 31, 4:07 AM

24) "So the Tea Party is worthy of every negative label, but La Raza's self-righteous incitement of sedition and revolution is just fine.  Wow."
-- May 12, 12:58 PM

25) "Portfolio.com ranks Memphis 64th (out of 67) for quality of life among metro areas with 750,000 or more.  Don't move here."
-- May 24, 11:03 AM

26) "'An Inconvenient Truth' mentioned threat of rising sea levels to U.S. beaches, which explains Gore's new purchase: a $9 million beach house."
-- May 7, 3:50 AM

27) "Opposition to Arizona's illegal immigrant law (SB 1070) crumbles when compared to Mexico's immigrant laws.  They're draconian & racist."
-- May 21, 5:44 PM

28) "So a guy in Missouri with no front teeth and less than $30 to his name won the $258 million Powerball lottery.  Life... is... not... fair."
-- April 23, 4:51 PM

29) "Evidently Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews don't realize that condescension & partisan hackery make them neither appealing nor believable."
-- May 10, 3:41 AM

30) "Fox News' Megyn Kelly is what we heterosexual males refer to as 'a total package.'  She really is dreamy."
-- April 1, 4:20 PM

31) "Must the Williams sisters dress like strippers for nearly every tennis tournament?"
-- May 23, 5:07 PM

32) "Someone tell Halle Berry to stop calling me.  Just because she's available now, it doesn't necessarily mean I'm interested.  Thanks anyway."
-- May 3, 5:47 AM

33) "Is it just me, or is Sarah Jessica Parker viciously unattractive?"
-- April 21, 3:31 PM

34) "Gabourey Sidibe was on SNL last night.  She reminds me of someone, but who?  Oh yeah, about 3,000 of my co-workers."
-- April 25, 2:48 PM

35) "Interesting how peaceful the Tea Parties are, and how rambunctious the pro-illegal alien rally in Arizona was.  A noticeable contrast indeed."
-- April 27, 6:59 PM

36) "Our financial conundrum is the result of both the GOP & the Dems disregard for our national welfare.  It's like they're doing it on purpose."
-- May 22, 3:51 PM

37) "According to The Daily Beast, my home State of Tennessee is the most corrupt in the nation.  But to be fair, most of that is Memphis' fault."
-- May 13, 3:50 AM

38) "I feel the same about the 'Right Wing' militia in Michigan as I feel about the Left Wing militia in Congress and the media."
-- March 30, 5:06 PM

39) "You might say the Tea Party has some clout.  Get used to it."
-- May 18, 7:25 PM

40) "As pennies become dollars, inches become miles.  That is how every journey begins... but where do I start?"
-- April 3, 3:46 AM

Taking it one step too far (redux)

A recent post about the rash of Obama caricatures from the somewhat overzealous, albeit well-intentioned Right Wingers hellbent on seeing BHO and his party defeated in 2010 and 2012 was met with some unexpected criticism (via e-mail), as it seems my call to take the proverbial high road against even our harshest adversaries was swallowed by a kind of emotion that hasn't filled the heart of GOP adherents since the earliest days of the Clinton administration.

In all fairness, the Left's habitual low blows -- sometimes humorous, but often unnecessary and irrational -- helped to create this new wave of Conservative/Moderate/Libertarian activism that has yet to reach its peak.  And to demonstrate my point, the following is a caricature that, now, goes further to motivate than discourage:

To which I am compelled to reply...

A different angle on Tea Party demographics

I "Tweeted" a couple of days ago about a Winston Group poll that stated 41% of Tea Party activists are registered as either Democrat or Independent.  Shocking as that is for many, a recent piece from the Associated Press about a purportedly surprising Tea Party protagonist and the support he found for his Congressional run in perhaps the most unlikely of places might raise a few more eyebrows still.  Enjoy:

"Among the 37 black Republicans running for U.S. House and Senate seats in November is Charles Lollar of Maryland's 5th District.  A tea party supporter running against House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., Lollar says he's finding support in unexpected places.  The 38-year-old U.S. Marine Corps reservist recently walked into a bar in southern Maryland decorated with a Confederate flag.  It gave his wife Rosha pause.

I said, 'You know what, honey?  Many, many of our Southern citizens came together under that flag for the purpose of keeping their family and their state together,'  Lollar recalled.  'The flag is not what you're to fear.  It's the stupidity behind the flag that is a problem.  I don't think we'll find that in here.  Let's go ahead in.'

Once inside, they were treated to a pig roast, a motorcycle rally -- and presented with $5,000 in contributions for his campaign."