BATF Bureau of Antics, Tom Foolery and Foul Ups?

If my Blog has a theme it is the absolute disconnect between the politicians and bureaucrats who presume to run this country and reality. I know, you thought it was one of those exercises where they let a chimp loose on a typewriter and look for patterns but I DO have a point. 

http://news.yahoo.com/justice-dept-faulted-gun-trafficking-operation-181210695.html

As my intention is to prove that the whole political process, as practiced in our country at present, is corrupt, venal, unconstitutional, shameless, heartless, tyrannical and just plain stupid then my work is done here. Show me who to give the Silver Bullet to, I’ll hop on Silver find Tonto and hit the road.

Nothing I can say will add to that article. But you don’t mind if I try do you?

First let me say that if you flag Republican and are rubbing your hands together in anticipation you might want to hold up a bit.  In my particular case “The enemy of my enemy is my friend” is wrong on two counts. First; I know you two are not enemies, you are perfectly happy with the status quo.  Second: I consider both of you my enemies.

This country needs change and the first change is to put the Democratic and the Republican parties in the history books. Both of them have fewer principles than a slave trader and a moral compass that always seems to point back to them.  Hope I have made myself clear on that.

Let’s get back to Mr. Holder, his Justice Department and their BATF.  In synopsis this is what happened: the BATF started a program to catch people selling guns illegally across the border, in this program the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms would……. WAIT FOR IT NOW……. Sell guns illegally across the border.  

I know, when I first heard of this some months ago I thought that is just too silly to be true. The fact I was right about that did not mean it was NOT true however. The BATF did sell illegal firearms across the Mexican Border with the hope of catching people doing what the BATF was doing to catch them.  I need an asprin.

I will casually mention that what the BATF did was illegal but let me take you a step further. Let’s say Bolivia decided that to further their internal policy they needed to sell illegal weapons to purchasers inside the United States.  Illegally moving weapons into a sovereign foreign power is an act of WAR.

So the BATF, a subordinate of the Justice Department who reports directly to the Attorney General committed an ACT OF WAR against the State of Mexico. At this point outcomes become kind of academic. Whether the plan worked or did not work is overshadow by that whole “violation of national sovereign boundaries” thing.  Ever curious as I am though I wonder, did the plan work?

In point of fact, no the great BATF plan did not work. I can’t understand these are the same people who orchestrated Waco and Ruby Ridge, how could ANYTHING possibly go wrong? It did, guns got loose people got shot and, at least from the Justice Department’s point of view, the worse was an American Border guard got shot.

The crux of the problem, from Washington DC’s view,  was not that an illegal gun got placed in the hands of a madman, nor was it that this was done by a Commissioned Law Enforcement Officer,  there really was no problem that it was used to take another Law Enforcement Officer’s life. You are completely missing the point.

Illegal guns floating around, Mexican’s getting shot by the gross weight with said illegal guns, a Federal Agent shot dead by said illegal guns and the fact these guns were put into the hands that used them by the Federal Agency sworn to control Alcohol, Tobacco and FIREARMS. Oh, don’t forget explosives, they are in charge of explosives. Prey Dear Lord nobody gets any bright ideas about that.

The real problem, fellow citizens, is that because a Federal Agent was shot with an illegal weapon that was traced back to the BATF the great unwashed (that would be us) found out about. THERE is the problem.

 
Yes, as in all real crisis in our federal government, it is not really a problem until somebody knows about it.  No matter the scope, potential damage, unethical behavior or tyrannical excess it is really not a problem as long as it is a secret.  It’s not wrong until you get caught. There you have it, government by Sociopaths.

Trust me; I am not done with Mr. Holder or this subject.  This incident is like a short course on the arrogance, ethically bankruptcy, and disregard for our Constitution that pervades our government no matter which party is in power.

Neither the Republicans or the Democrats want to fix the problem so they are the prima fascia problem.

Next I would like to move on from here and discuss this issue of THE DOMESTIC TERRORIST threat. Interesting stuff that.  

OR I WILL HOLD MY BREATH UNTIL.... as Diplomacy

I watch the antics in the Mid East and think to myself, “Isn’t this where I came in?” Seriously, haven’t we seen all this before? How many times does your kid fall down on the floor, kick their feet, bang their heads and hold their breath until they turn blue before it quits being exciting?

Temper tantrum; that is what they are pitching and that is what we are seeing. Any parent who has semi-successfully raised a kid passed the terrible twos knows how to handle these people it does not require a bunch of Harvard and Yale educated talking heads.

The first principle is what the tantrumer (my word how you like it?) wants is irrelevant. What they want right now could be right, good and pure of spirit but if you give into the tantrum behavior tomorrow they will pitch the same fit for hot dogs with tatter chips covered with hot fudge. The issue is the tantrum itself.

So the first step by the tantrumee (that would be us) is to remain calm and think happy thoughts; tantrum and thunderstorm durations are self limiting by their violence.  Find a good book, pick up your knitting, continue with your life and ignore them.

But Ed, you cannot ignore the whole Middle East!!!!! Why not?  Let me give you an idea of how I might have handled this little twitch in the Middle East had I woke up as president this morning:

1.       My first step, while still running around in my presidential bathrobe, would be to contact the Secretary of State and recall ALL ambassadors to Middle East countries for consultation. Stable country, unstable, ally or enemy the Ambassador would be recalled for consultation. In Diplo-speak recalling an ambassador for consultation is a step before breaking diplomatic ties.

2.       Once breakfast was over I would call the Joint Chiefs of Staff and asked to see their plan to remove all military personnel from any ground bases in the Middle East within five days. We would review this plan together by close of business today.  I, as President and the Big Dog in the Bureaucratic Meat House would not entertain a “we can’t do that” option.

3.       After I had caused the Joint Chiefs to squat and have a cow I would call in my Chief of Staff and we would have us a little talk. The Chief’s first job would be to announce a joint session of Congress for that evening. No, I do not care about news cycles or other obligations. I get to drink out of a POTUS coffee cup.  I would also have the Chief drop by my legislative office and have them draft a bill based on the following facts:

a.       Today’s price for a barrel of crude oil is $98.94 which is down 6% from yesterday.

b.      Rounded up that’s a hundred bucks and adding a ten percent the president is ticked off tax that makes it a hundred and ten.

4.       Based on those two numbers I would propose emergency legislation that says the price of oil will NEVER fall below $110.00 any difference between the wholesale price and $110.00 per barrel would be collected as a tariff and used for the New Manhattan project.

5.       What new Manhattan Project? The one I would propose to find, develop and deploy viable alternative energy sources. The simple fact is we need such alternatives now, trying to find them might already be too late and the best reason for an emergency program now is because we were too stupid to do it thirty years ago.

I am certain you can see all kinds of problems with this strategy, so can I. I, frankly, cannot see a strategy for handling the spoiled children of the Middle East that is not going to mess up the house and cause problems.

In defense of my down and dirty answer or yours, whatever that may be; let me say it is better than anything the Democrats or Republicans have done in the last seventy years.

Going full circle in my little discussion what my fantasy presidency has done is to begin preparing the United States to ignore the Middle East. Pull out our soldiers, close off diplomatic relations and chop down their little money tree.

There is only one cure for tantrum behavior that is when the person throwing the tantrum realizes they cannot get what they want by hurting themselves. Once that lesson is learned it is remarkable how fast common sense breaks out.

The Republican Convention

So the Republicans had their convention and what a surprise the outcome was. Romney was chosen to run for President and Ryan for Vice President. Am I the only one who remembers when a political convention was where you chose the candidate? Now a political convention is largely about who can drop the most balloons and make the longest most boring speech.

Clint Eastwood was a breath of fresh air. Fresh air on two accounts: First, Mr. Eastwood has been a long standing adamant liberal. It’s commensurate with Rush Limbaugh endorsing Obama. Second, I found Mr. Eastwood’s speech to be funny, full of wit, somewhat irreverent and showing the pathos of a disillusioned idealist who was not particularly happy about where fate had taken him but brave enough to stand and deliver.

I assume that the Democrats and the press must have watched another speech. Allow me a moment to interpret the remarks made after Mr. Eastwood’s by his liberal (former) friends:

1. It was incoherent: The speech was largely extemporaneous, ad-libbed, off the cuff, funny and WE did not like it.

2. Talking to the empty chair proves that Eastwood is getting senile: Talking to the chair was unique which shows the creative ability to communicate that has made Mr. Eastwood one of the best actors and directors of his generation. The fact is that Mr. Eastwood is still more intelligent and creative than all of us and WE did not like it.

3. Eastwood’s mumbling, pausing delivery was inarticulate and made the whole speech incomprehensible: Academy award winning actor Clint Eastwood has delivered his lines in this Jimmy Stewartesque manner since he was a young actor on Rawhide. It has been a staple of his performances and has made him a master of the “quiet hero” role. Oh, yes, I almost forgot WE DID NOT LIKE IT.

I believe, on reflection that the liberal wing of our political debate just darned well did not like it. This is not a new stand for the liberal wing; I refer you to John Wayne and Clarence Thomas as two examples of this kind of ire. The Democrats prefer their actors and darkies (Judge Thomas’ own word) to stay in their place.

Clint Eastwood is not a liberal who defected. Clint Eastwood is a true liberal who has just had enough. He supported and voted for President Obama at the last election because Mr. Eastwood wanted to end the war, repeal the Bush attacks on the Bill of Rights and straighten out the economy.

Obama did none of these things and Mr. Eastwood holds him accountable for those failures. The only place I find a problem with Mr. Eastwood’s stand is that I believe he needs to take it one step further.

Late in Mr. Eastwood’s speech he reminds us that this is our country, that politicians are our employees and that it is time to stand up and take it back. I am pretty certain neither the Depublicans nor the Remocrats liked that.

Vote Independently.



Fools Rarely Differ

The only trouble with doing this blog is that I have to stay in some kind of touch with the present political debate. I would rather shovel rat dung, but somebody has to do it and I guess it is just my turn. What an utterly despicable pile of garbage.

It appears that the great minds of the press have decided that seven states are going to decide the whole election. Wasn’t there fifty states last I checked?  But that’s all right, they are THE PRESS and they are so much smarter, savvier, more connected and in touch than we common slugs in the “fly over states” that we should just sit back and listen to them. After all what do we know?

Well There Was That Wasn’t There?

The Democrats are quick to tell us that Romney is a big business front and will bring down the country and according to Biden “put us all back in chains”. Wow, when was the last time you were in chains? They also say that Ryan is going to tear down the whole “Safety Net” so carefully crafted by the Democrats while fighting the Republicans all the way.  You mean the safety net that robs the rich to give to the richer while leaving the poor in concentration camps we call Government Housing? Well I feel safer.

The Democrats have pretty much accused poor Misters Romney and Ryan of everything but feasting on the flesh of fresh killed children. This series of accusations has risen to the sublime. God Lord grant me the longevity to see what in the world they say about the Republicans four years from now. I may be aging but I am ever curious. 

On the other side of the political alley, it is too dirty to be a street, the Republicans accuse Obama of being a rampant Communist, mean spirited, a man who bows to foreign powers and commits assassinations. That is for starters, after that they get nasty. As to Biden, they portray him as a foul mouthed clown who speaks without thinking, thinks about it and decides he was right in the first place. Well, what can I say; even a blind pig will find acorns if he roots long enough. They nailed that one, the VP is often wrong but NEVER uncertain.

The Republicans have portrayed the put-upon President and Vice President as personal minions of Beelzebub in league with the fallen angels to cause the down fall of Christianity. If Obama wants to call out Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, for a knock down drag out I think I know which way I am going to bet.

So there it is both sides are slinging mud at each other and the real issues of the economy, the Constitution, the horror of the Patriot Act, taxes and whatever else are left unaddressed.

After studying both parties’ pontifications carefully I can only come to one conclusion. They are both right.  Neither one of them is worth voting for.

Vote for an Independent party.

A Short Quiz

Three of my last four entries are to the effect that the Republicans and the Democrats are in collusion to assure that your right to vote is limited to a choice of the “lesser of two evils”. A little hint here, the lesser of two evils always works out to an evil. Only in multiplication is the product of two negatives a positive. Never in politics does that kind of math work. Show these arrogant tyrants a trick. Vote for an Independent.

That is all I want to say about that this time, I am tired of beating this dead horse, anyway if the Democrats and/or the Republicans stay in power I don’t want to hurt in any horse meat lying around. I might just need it. Instead let me ask you if you can see what these words have in common and yes, it is a trick question:

·         Abortion

·         Education

·         Welfare

·         Narcotics

·         Marriage

·         Homosexual

·         Heterosexual

·         Bisexual

·         Sexual

·         Assault Rifle

·         Cocaine

·         Marijuana

·         Privacy

·         Morals

·         Housing

·         House plants (OK I just tossed that one in for fun, kinda like I did sexual)

Do you give up?

Ok, what they all have in common is that none of them are mentioned in the body of or any amendments to the Constitution of the United States.  Now welfare is mentioned in the preamble where it says in part “promote the general welfare” but in context that has nothing to do with welfare programs and the preamble is just that, a general statement of the goals for the document listed below it. That document is the Constitution itself.

So the Constitution doesn’t mention the “buzz words” that define most of the major social issues of our times. Big whoop, what does that mean to us today? Well the Constitution does actually say something about that; it says this:

“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

What I quote above is the 10^th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States and the last Amendment in what is termed the Bill of Rights.

You see those Old White Men; slave owners, smugglers, slave traders, back shooters, philanders and largely flawed and sorry men that they were, had a real moment of clarity here. Even though the original intent of the Bill of Rights was to protect their rational self interest and fear of large government at the time it has done a fairly good work a day job of protecting those of us who followed on.

So what it means, in general terms, that none of those words are found in the Constitution is that (How to put this nicely? Oh, never mind.) The Federal Government has no, not a bit, not one scintilla of any authority to act in these matters.

Did I say none?

Yet they still do. Let me ask you this, if you had a contract to buy a car on time and the company you had the contract with kept overstepping their legal authority what would you do? Well I know what my first inclination would be but the car probably would not fit there no matter how hard I tried.

The Federal Government is in severe breach of Contract with each individual one of you. In breach of Contract with me too by the way and I can’t speak for each and every one of you but it tends to make me testy. The fact that both major parties act like this is no big deal makes me just plain mad.

I can’t speak for you but I want to vote for somebody with the ability to read and comprehend at above a fourth grade level and the integrity to keep a simple contract. I think I will vote for somebody in an Independent Party because I am sick and tired of picking a new Massa every for years.

Hey Guys, Water is Wet

I have spent my last three blog post trying to convince you that the Republicans nor the Democrats have your best interest at heart. It sometimes feels like I am making a case for water being wet. Why in the world do I need to keep stating the obvious?

Let us take a look at a short list of some of the real issues that face the United States at present:

1.       Our economy is in the crapper. No it’s not just bad.  If I wanted to dream up a way to screw up an economy I could not come up with anything better that the Dems and Pubs have done by accident. At least they SAY it’s an accident:

a.       Our economy is now founded on an un-renewable energy source that is running out. Oil is going, going and almost gone. There is absolutely no way to save this petroleum based society and both parties KNOW IT.

b.      Our Social Security system is neither social nor secure. By 2033 at the latest this will become glaringly obvious. By then it will be too late to do anything about it, quite possibly it is too late already.

c.       Our major industries are all monopolies, something both the Dems and the Pubs claim to despise but dutifully ignore. Health care, food and energy are all run by a very minority position that actively excludes anyone who tries to break their control. Teddy Roosevelt would simply squat and birth a baby bovine. He thought big steel and rail was bad. Clone Teddy and put him back in Office and the Attorney General would have something to keep him or her out of mischief like sending drones to peek on hones t citizens.

This list is not meant to be encyclopedic, if I tried to list all the ways the government have actively sabotaged a great economic experiment this would not be a blog it would be a series of VERY BIG books.

2.       Our government, through the Patriot Act, has attacked every part of the Constitution except perhaps the preamble. They probably left that alone because it is one drawn out long sentence and they can’t figure out exactly what it means. They do have their limitations.

3.       More than half the world thinks the United States is a bunch of arrogant butt wipes. More than half of those who think that have valid reasons. Isn’t it time we put our FIVE HUNDRED POUND GORILLA on a diet?

4.       Every third idiot is busily interpreting our Constitution to have rights, authorities, privileges and powers it simply does not have. The U.S. Constitution is written in simple declarative sentences, even that long drawn out preamble. It does not require complex interpretation, it is a contract between us and our Government and it requires honoring by both parties.

This list is not meant to be encyclopedic either. It is meant to be indicative of some things we really need to be discussing. So what are the Demopublicans and the Republacrats discussing?

Three idiots. Yes fellow citizens our major political debate between both of the major parties is wrapped up in three individual idiots. Two stuck their individual foot in their  mouth and the other stuck his bare butt in the  Sea of Galilee.  That is what the Democrats and the Republicans think of the level of your grasp of the issues. If you are not insulted by them yet, stick around I will try harder.

It seems that this Repuli-Idiot, Aiken from the shamed state of Missouri, made some stupid statement that women who are truly raped don’t get pregnant. OK, here we have what is classically refered to as a moron. Let’s all not vote for him. I know I won’t. Time to move on.

The other idiot from the Repub side of the house is a man named Yoder from Arizona who appears to have jumped buck naked in the Sea of Galilee. The Sea of Galilee is historic, it is not Holy, for those of a Christian bent you are not supposed to worship ANYTHING but God, through Christ who died and rose again. Even way cool lakes that Jesus walked on.

As to skinny dipping in general, its’ a foolish, and childish practice not well thought out by the Congressman. Are there Snapping turtles in the Sea of Galilee?  Mr. Yoder is a fool, don’t vote for him Arizona. Let’s move on.

But not to be outdone, the Republicans are outraged too. It seems that Vice President Joe Biden said something to the effect that the Repulicrats are going to put us all back in chains; everyone here that does not know that Joe Biden kicks his mouth in gear before he puts his brain in motion please raise your hand. Yes, the one guy who raised his hand can go to the potty, out the door and to your right.

Joe Biden is Jerry Lewis to Obama’s Dean Martin. Obama gets to play the straight man while Biden gets to be the clown. Anybody that doesn’t like that, don’t vote for them.

I tell you plainly I am not going to vote Obama and Biden back into office but I am not going to vote for Romney and his sidekick either.  If you don’t understand my reasoning either you have not read all my post on the issues or I am not communicating effectively so allow me to put it down in skill level one terms:

1. Both parties think you and I are idiots.

2. Neither party represents change in a situation that cries out for change.

3. Both parties are actively working to destroy yours and my rights as citizens. Your choice isn’t which one will protect your rights it is which rights you want to lose first if you chose between them.

4. There is one monopoly I did not mention under the economy because it isn’t a monopoly of money it is a monopoly of debate. That is the monopoly represented by the Democrats and the Republicans. They have no right or authority to tell me what I have to think. Especially when the best they can do is give me fools being fools. Who cares?

This list is not encyclopedic either but I think it is enough.

On a side note Jerry Lewis is a man of intelligence, compassion and integrity and my apologies are in order. The only reason I made the comparison between him and Jokin' Joe Biden is that Mr. Lewis was the greatest clown of his generation while Biden is striving to be the greatest clown of our political generation (with people jumping naked into the Sea of Galilee Biden has his work cut out for him). The difference between Mr. Lewis and Mr. Biden is that Mr. Lewis was acting.

Peak Oil and Flat Heads

It is the “modern thing” to paint your opposing candidate in any campaign as stupid. This is a fallacy. Since I oppose both major party candidates equally I will tell you right now I assume they are at least as smart as me if not smarter. They are also much better informed since they don’t depend on Yahoo and Facebook for their news items.

For instance, I know we have passed the moment of Peak Oil. What that means in layman’s terms, the only terms I understand, is that never again will the earth be able to produce enough crude oil to meet the demand for it. In point of fact production, short falls will continue to grow until the petroleum based economy falls down like the Little Pig’s Stick House that it really is.

You must be about to ask yourself, “OK, where’s the funny stuff?” Good question. The funny stuff is that if I know this you can be certain Romney and Obama know about Peak Oil, the downward spiral and the ultimate outcome unless something radical is done now. They know it and they are still out there talking about who said what about who, when and where like it matters. One is moving the deck chairs on the Titanic while the other is sweeping the Shuffle Board courts. Hey, you either gotta laugh or cry, right?

So what can we do about? Well we could just ignore it and hope the Social Security crisis, global Terrorism or a passing meteor gets us before we run out of oil and end up back trying to plow with mules. That seems to be the present strategy of both major parties.

I had an interesting thought this morning and did just a tad of research. Part of my research tells me that Mars is, depending on the orbit of the two planets, somewhere between 33 million and 250 million miles from earth. Another piece of information I gleaned is that the Mars Rover Curiosity weighs upwards of nine thousand pounds.

So, NASA blasted a nine thousand pound vehicle at least 33 million miles into space so it could run around Mars taking pictures and sending them back to earth. Good deal, great technology. While this thing is running around Mars what is fueling it? Now that is an interesting question.

So I looked it up: Plutonium 238 fuels the Mars Rover. Oh Plutonium, that’s bad can’t use that on earth can we?  Los Alamos laboratory produced Plutonium 238 for use in Pacemakers. The 250 pacemakers powered by Plutonium 238 lasted approximately twenty-five years without being replaced. The fuel on the Mars Rover is expected to last fourteen years.

So what we have is a nuclear fuel that can be produced and used safely INSIDE  humans that will power a nine-thousand pound vehicle for fourteen years. Where do I sign up? Not so fast. No one, and I mean no one, did I say absolutely NOBODY in politics is going to suggest an answer like this to the real energy crisis of Peak Oil. That should be obvious because they won’t even mention Peak Oil.

Why or possibly why not would be the question wouldn’t it? I think the answer is simple. The name of the game is oil. Something on which the economy pivots, something that is making a few people a whole lot of money and something that we have to shove in our tanks every three to five days or so. Big petroleum is not looking for an alternative where the fill up rate is once a decade or so.
 

Perhaps the technology on the Mars Rover is not the answer to petroleum dependence. I really do not have the technological expertise to say one way or the other. I do believe that the answer or answers is out there. What we need is someone willing to entertain answers that do not necessarily including making the same cats fatter.

What we need is someone who is first willing to face the truth, then willing to state the truth and finally willing to entertain the possibility of real change. Now you look at Romney and Obama and tell me if either one of these strikes you as that person?

Friend, that ain’t the way the smart money bets.