That pesky suspension of disbelief

I can’t say that I have been paying attention to Obamamania. I do find the fawning of the major networks and other media outlets distasteful. Katie, Brian and Charlie look like teenagers  with backstage passes to the Beatles at Candlestick Park.

I am glad that there is a black candidate running. It’s about time. I do not agree with a thing he says when I actually understand it, so he won’t get my vote.  I think this whole media frenzy going to backfire.

The “guns and religion” crowd and the Hilary malcontents are still out there.  This is not a nomination but a coronation.

This trip is much like the Puerto Rican Democrat Convention. It was like nipples on a bull. Those islanders cannot vote for president, yet they could vote for the candidate. I suspect this may happen here. To my knowledge, Europeans can’t vote. This is the summer event between the Beijing Olympics (more on that later) and the conventions.

One must remember that John Kerry was trouncing Bush around this time in 2004. Once you strip down the rhetoric, even moderates can see through this. Having the drive-by media support Obama  with such an affection makes the middle suspicious.

If Barry makes one mistake during this campaign someone will catch it and YouTube will have it the same time CNN does – except without the positive spin. You’ll have to tune in for that.

In a way, Obama’s trip is a stroke of genius. If he does screw up, America’s attention will be on the Olympics in two weeks, so any gaffe he makes will be lost. By the time he gets back, Olympic fever will be boiling.

By the time the conventions show up, any blunder will have been buried. Don’t think that this will be lost on the voters.

Will the McCain campaign have the nerve or the exposure to counter this media love-fest?  Perhaps.

We have more than three months before the general election. From the coverage, one might think the special day is tomorrow.

It’s not. We have a long way to go.

I encourage the mainstream media keep up its groveling.  If so, any mistake after the conventions will be seized upon. That will not only spell the demise of the liberal wing of this country, but much of the mainstream media.

The London Telegraph reported on Monday, July21, that “China, Russia, petro-powers and other foreign states own $985bn of US agency debt, besides holdings of US Treasuries. Purchases of Fannie/Freddie debt covered a third of the US current account deficit of $700bn over the last year. Alex Patelis from Merrill Lynch says America faces the risk of a ‘financing crisis’ within months. Foreigners have a veto over US policy.”

I have friends that think that Obama has all the answers. Indeed, Barry is a charismatic speaker, but he has no solutions that aren’t far left – not liberal – but Socialist.

A few weeks ago, columnist Peggy Noonan postulated that people will start seeing through this haze of populism. People will see that despite the fact that he has disavowed the good Revered Wright, and has the love and adoration of the media and the Europeans, the average American will be uncomfortable about making a huge change in the middle of a crisis.

I am middle-aged. I came upon a child of God who was walking down the road who was along his way to Yasger’s Farm.  We are really are stardust – the sad thing is that we have no clue in finding  the way back to the “The Garden.” What struck me most was Roger Daltry swinging his microphone and that scream and Peter Townsend’s guitar in perfect synchronicity with Keith Moon’s drum solo.

Today, “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” is a theme song for one of the CSIs. I am saddened that the idealism and realism I felt hearing that song in the early ‘70s has been turned into a commodity that destroys community.

One must remember the last words after the best synthesizer solo on God’s green earth were, “Meet the new boss; same as the old boss.”

As John Lennon once intoned, “But when you go carryin’ pictures of Chairman Mao, you ain’t gonna make it with anyone anyhow…”

That’s where we are right now. The Obama campaign has wagered much on this example of a friend of mine calls, “a useless monument to self-importance.”

Obama and his gang think they have the media. They are not openly carrying pictures of Mao. They don’t need to. They are also counting on people like me and so many others to stay home.  We are not at all enamored with John McCain. I think the best example of this is with two women of the same name with whom I shared the airwaves here and in Georgetown

Both are ultra-conservative, which makes them fine in my book, but ironically, one believes the other is too conservative for her taste. Yet, the woman –who has the credentials that she is too reactionary– supported John McCain our whole time when she was a guest on my show on WGTN-AM when I supported Fred Thompson. She unreservedly supports McCain to this day. (check her website at www.rightbias.com)

My other friend feels McCain is a traitor to the conservative cause. I can’t say as I disagree with her.  Am I the only one who sees the irony of McCain-Feingold?

Obama can spend money because it’s not forbidden . No matter how this plays out,  Obama has already thrown the dice. The network anchors and the big cheese ranging from The New York Times to the Dallas Morning News have tossed their lot in with the rest. This is not just a referendum for the Democrats, but a choice between what Peggy Noonan calls “The Old America” and the “Old America.” 

I would take it one step further. It is a choice between the old media and the new media. It will be a test to see whether the people of this country trust the pap being fed them by large corporations (ie. NBC is owned by Universal. In a couple of weeks, one will not be able swing a flounder without seeing some feats of Chinese prowess in sports like ping pong or women’s water polo).  Think Munich in 1936.

According to Howard Kurtz of CNN and the Washington Post, Barry (which is what he was called in high school and college) made the cover of various news magazines.  They all show a human with wisdom oftentimes pensive with gravitas (If I hear that word once, we’re done).

Ironically (if we can still use that word), the cover that got the play is also the one that infuriated the Obama  people the most. It was on the New Yorker showing whom we conservatives believe to print seditious material under the pen of Seymour Hersh. The cover was a satire (and actually very clever and very nuanced).

Too nuanced, it appears.  The left went nuts, but they had to rage against most liberal mainstream magazine (one, I should note, I read myself on occasion).  I thought it was funny because I think they struck a tad too close to a nerve.

Then there was The New York Times denying John McCain the chance to write an op-ed piece in contrast to Obama.  Their reasoning?  Well, the editor, David Shipley, who served in the Clinton administration as a senior presidential speechwriter and special assistant to the president from 1995 to 1997, wrote, “”I’d be very eager to publish the senator on the op-ed page. However, I’m not going to be able to accept this piece as currently written. I’d be pleased, though, to look at another draft. Let me suggest an approach…”

In other words, John, your old buddies at the Times will be delighted to print your editorial as soon as it says what they want it to say. Most people will not know of this.

Here’s the whole thing in a nutshell: This election will involve the suspension of disbelief on both sides. This time, it’s for keeps. If Barry folds, so will the old liberal establishment media.

A man can dream, can’t he?

This is not a good year for whining

Last week, Phil Gramm, former senator from Texas, called America “a nation of whiners.” 

The next day, he clarified that statement by saying: “I’m talking about our leaders. I’m not talking about our people. We’ve got every kind of excuse in the world about oil prices — we’ve got speculators, the oil companies, to blame. But too many people don’t have a program to get on with producing [oil]. If you listen to our leaders, we can’t compete against Mexico, for God’s sake. If they don’t think we can compete against Mexico, who can we compete against?”

Sadly, we have become a nation of whiners. What bothers me is that we don’t have time to be. We are facing a perfect storm that could relegate ourselves to third world status.

We have more oil than Mexico, Saudi Arabia and Canada combined. It’s time we drilled for it. We have had a wonderful time feeling good  protecting the environment. On the other hand, we need energy: lots of it.

It is time to pull out the stops. Understand, we cannot survive with this lifestyle and have a dearth of energy.

We are the world’s super power. It’s a situation to which we didn’t aspire, but we are nonetheless. We have allowed ourselves to be pulled apart by various factions that have nothing to do with our survival.

For generations, we have stood by the work ethic that our forefathers bestowed upon us. Our ancestors knew that things didn’t always go our way – they knew that no matter what, we had to push forward; we had to win no matter the odds.

Today we are facing threats that truly could destroy us. I’m not talking about $5 gas. I’m not talking about recessions or depressions nor Iran.  I’m talking about our will to win.

I talk to a friend from another part of the country often, and I have remarked that I didn’t understand why we didn’t do something. She remarked that people are scared. Well, I am, too, but I’m not running the country.

T. Boone Pickens, an oil billionaire has a plan. Pickens points out that in 1970, “we imported 24% of our oil. Today it’s nearly 70% and growing.

“As imports grow and world prices rise, the amount of money we send to foreign nations every year is soaring. At current oil prices, we will send $700 billion dollars out of the country this year alone.

 

Projected over the next 10 years the cost will be $10 trillion — it will be the greatest transfer of wealth in the history of mankind.

“America uses a lot of oil. Every day 85 million barrels of oil are produced around the world. And 21 million of those are used here in the United States. That’s 25% of the world’s oil demand used by just 4% of the world’s population.”

 

He observes that the US is the Saudi Arabia of wind power. A 2005 Stanford University study pointed out that there is enough wind power to satisfy global demand 7 times over — even if only 20% of wind power could be confined.

Pickens also asserts, “Building wind facilities in the corridor that stretches from the Texas panhandle to North Dakota could produce 20% of the electricity for the United States at a cost of $1 trillion. It would take another $200 billion to build the capacity to transmit that energy to cities and towns.

“That’s a lot of money, but it’s a one-time cost. And compared to the $700 billion we spend on foreign oil every year, it’s a bargain.”

As for transportation, Pickens suggests that we convert to natural gas. On Fox and Friends on Friday, July 17, he asserted that we have enough to carry us through until new technologies are developed.

On his website, he writes, “Natural gas is our country’s second largest energy resource and a vital component of our energy supply. 98% of the natural gas used in the United States is from North America. But 70% of our oil is purchased from foreign nations.

“Natural gas is one of the cleanest, safest and most useful forms of energy — residentially, commercially and industrially. The natural gas industry has existed in the United States for over 100 years and continues to grow.

“Domestic natural gas reserves are twice that of petroleum. And new discoveries of natural gas and ongoing development of renewable biogas are continually adding to existing reserves.

While it is a cheap, effective and versatile fuel, less than 1% of natural gas is currently used for transportation.”

Do go to Mr. Pickens’ website. Does he have the answer? Well, he’s done okay so far. At least he is trying.

The one thing that has always puzzled me is why some liberals almost seem hell-bent on making things more complicated than they are, and when you argue with them you just don’t understand.

That’s absolute tripe. Build the wall. Global warming is not going to happen in ten years, and if you accept the premise that mankind caused it, well it took us a hundred years to get where we are now, which is far better than we were in the 1960s. Let’s study a lot of plans and let private enterprise sort this thing out.

Neither most Democrats or Republicans have a clue in Congress. We have a way out. We have to take it. Yes, banks are failing,

The Federal Reserve Board, which in my mind is basically unconstitutional, is about to take on the responsibility of Fannie-Freddie which smacks of fascism and, if implemented, will truly test the full faith and credit of the United States Government. It’s all a Ponzi scheme that would make Al Parish blush.

I guess my biggest interest about progressives is that there isn’t a definitive answer. It’s the spotted owl might not survive if you cut down old growth forests. Well, they did just fine. The caribou like the pipeline.

My parent’s generation endured the Great Depression, World War II, the moon shot and the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Mistakes were made – bad ones – but we as a nation won. Because of that, my generation became spoiled and entitled. That spilled onto successive generations.

Yes, things seem wretched, but note the language. It’s always “if” or “whether” or “could.” It’s time to act. We have incredibly sharp minds in this country. It’s time we start using them realizing that things could go awry.

As Gnyles Barkley would, say, “Bless your soul. You think you’re in control?”

No. But what we do have is will, and what we need is a collective will to band together and fix these messes no matter what it takes.

We have been like the man in the ad a few years back. He’s a member of the country club, has a beautiful house in a nice neighborhood and we see him riding his power at the end as he smiles brightly and asks, “Won’t someone please help me?”

So we went for help from China and Saudi Arabia, neither allies. They just want our money. How’s that globalization thing working out for you?

It’s time we took it back. Whining will get us nowhere. We must take deliberative action – no coulds. Re-read the Declaration of Independence. Really. Then substitute the names.

We’ve had an easy ride. Well, we might have to pay a toll, a heavy one, to get from Point A to Point B. The point is that we will, not that we could’ve gone the other way.

The past is gone forever, the present lasts but a fleeting second and the future stretches forward. By God, we are America and we can figure this out. Together — let’s stop whining and fix this mess.

Vacuous neophytes?

We are worried about drilling for oil, and if one believes that the earth is being destroyed by the search for energy, let’s see how things play out. Things have changed.

On Wednesday, Iran fired nine long and middle-range missiles. The Associated Press reported, “The military exercise was being conducted at the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway at the mouth of the Persian Gulf through which about 40 percent of the world’s oil passes. Iran has threatened to shut down traffic in the strait if attacked. It was not clear, however, whether the missile test also took place near the strait.

“Gen. Hossein Salami, the air force commander of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards, said the exercise would “demonstrate our resolve and might against enemies who in recent weeks have threatened Iran with harsh language,” the TV report said.

“Footage showed at least six missiles firing simultaneously, and said the barrage included a new version of the Shahab-3 missile, which officials have said has a range of 1,250 miles (2,000 kilometers) and is armed with a 1-ton conventional warhead. The television report did not specify where the launch took place.

“That would put Israel, Turkey, the Arabian peninsula, Afghanistan and Pakistan within striking distance.

“’Our hands are always on the trigger and our missiles are ready for launch,’” the official IRNA news agency quoted Salami as saying Wednesday. “

As one might imagine, Israel is not amused.

Shaul Mofaz, an Israeli Cabinet minister, set off an international uproar last month by saying in a published interview that Israel would have “no choice” but to attack Iran if it doesn’t halt its nuclear program. Mofaz is a former military chief and defense minister, and has been Israel’s representative in a strategic dialogue on Iran with U.S. officials.

At the same time, Turkey believes that al-Qaeda is behind the bombing of the U.S. Embassy that left six dead on Wednesday.  Things are heating up.

Still, this is a glass half-filled, not empty for conservatives and therefore America itself. The drive-by media would have you believe that the Democrats swept Congress by a large margin in ’06.

That’s not so. The average margin of error was roughly 4%. Everyone is predicting a landslide for Obama. Not so fast.

Are we in for rough times? Indubitably. Can we get through them? Yes, but while drilling may be a long difficult process which may not produce results immediately, the war we fight will largely be undercover. There will be few Iwo Jimas simply because the fight will not be over land; it will be over hearts, minds and  an interpretation of God that is irrefutable to some.   

There will be no island hopping across the Pacific. Even if there were, the mainstream media would either ignore it, or blame heatless conservatives.  “Gas goes up to $10 a gallon – Women and Minorities Hardest Hit.”

Israel  cannot let this situation fester. For that matter, neither can we.  We have the technology to confuse our enemies. It’s time to realize that we are in a war for our very lives.

These people have been furious at us for millennia. While we give a rat’s behind about Christy’s personal life, the Shia and the Sunnis have wanted to obliterate Western Civilization for centuries.

I would not be surprised if there were a strike on Iran before next January. I’m not sure who  will be the attackers, but take it to the bank that if Obama is elected, the Israelis will pre-empt  any further discussion.

AP also reported, “Defense Secretary Robert Gates says Iran’s missile test bolsters the U.S. argument that Tehran is a threat. He also says it counters Russia’s case against the need for a missile defense system in Europe.

“Gates says the U.S. has said for some time that there is a real threat Iran could develop long-range missiles to use against Europe. He says Tehran’s launch of several missiles Wednesday helps make that point. “

There is only one thing our enemies (including Arab states, Russia and China) underestimate. We are Americans. Despite our differences –and perhaps because of them – we are slow to wake. However, when we do awake, we are relentless.

We might go through rough times in the coming days, but no one should mistake our bouts of indecision for  defeatism.  We have gone through spectacularly bad times (for evidence, go to http://www.youtube.com/user/columnwriter25. Its a short silent film I produced. It includes the total destruction of Charleston).

Still, once riled, we can be difficult to deal with. Ask the Nazis, the Japanese or the Soviet Union. Ask Sadaam Hussein.

If we are attacked be it economically or militarily, we must respond in kind.

When I was at the College of Charleston in 1978, the drinking age was 18. The Student committee would set up a wide screen television for Monday night football. I recall enjoying a Budweiser before the game with one of my best friends who told me of Japanese spies at Harvard in the 1920s.

They wrote back. Don’t mess with these people.  They have a game called football, and it’s like war.

Well, of course they did, and we had to invent hell to stop them. By the way, little-known fact – Goggle it – the Japanese were within two weeks of exploding a radiological bomb in San Francisco when we dropped the bomb. Hitler was not far away. Funny, they just found a bunch of yellowcake in Iraq.

We have enemies that want us dead – black, white, gay, straight, man, woman – it doesn’t matter. This is a fight for Western Civilization, no hyperbole;  whoever is elected President better understand that on Day One.

I lived in New York City for six months 25 years ago, You become a New Yorker right away or some scum says : “Tourist.” Number one rule: Don’t look up. Do not be amazed at the remarkable.

The next president had better not look up. There’s no need  to be seen as vacuous neophytes trying toady up to our enemies,  There’s a long time before mid-January, Buy gold, food mutual funds and energy stock.

This doesn’t have to be totally unpleasant.

Viddy Well, My Droogs

“Viddy well, my droogs,” is the first line of A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess’s satirical and speculative novel written in 1961. The story was made famous in Stanly Kurbrick’s movie in 1971.

The jist of it was that the Queen’s English was no longer spoken, instead a polyglot of English, Russian, etc. were used.  There were ultra-violent gangs. Want to know the rest read it yourself. (By the way it is hard to read, you might want to save yourself and see the movie.)

I got to thinking about the polyglot, the multi-technology and the multi-nationalism as I watch what’s happening, today. Both Obama and McCain are trying to prove to the American people that they are patriots. But I have inkling that that word will have a different meaning four years from now.

I am not a conspiracy theorist, but I am concerned about the fusion of North America, three countries, three sets of laws and currencies.

I get a lot of e-mails that have political agendas. Many tell me that Obama is Muslim; many tell me that McCain broke under torture. Thank God for Snopes.com.

I got an e-mail from an avid reader. I read it. I was somewhat skeptical, so Mr. Google and I had a chat.

Well, there have been a number of blogs about this subject, and four years ago, then- Governor Richard Lamb made some comments that make me uneasy.

Among them:

1.       We must first make America a bilingual-bicultural country. History shows, in my opinion, that no nation can survive the tension, conflict and antagonism of two competing languages and cultures. It is a blessing for an individual to be bilingual; it is a curse for a society to be bilingual. One scholar, Seymour Martin Lipset, put it this way: “The histories of bilingual and bicultural societies that do not assimilate are histories of turmoil, tension and tragedy. Canada, Belgium, Malaysia, Lebanon – all face crises of national existence in which minorities press for autonomy, if not independence. Pakistan and Cyprus have divided. Nigeria suppressed an ethnic rebellion. France faces difficulties with its Basques, Bretons and Corsicans.”

2.       I would then invent “multiculturalism” and encourage immigrants to maintain their own culture. I would make it an article of belief that all cultures are equal: that there are no cultural differences that are important. I would declare it an article of faith that the black and Hispanic dropout rate is only due to prejudice and discrimination by the majority. Every other explanation is out-of-bounds.

3.       We can make the United States a “Hispanic Quebec” without much effort. The key is to celebrate diversity rather than unity. As Benjamin Schwarz said in the Atlantic Monthly recently, “The apparent success of our own multiethnic and multicultural experiment might have been achieved, not by tolerance, but by hegemony. Without the dominance that once dictated ethnocentrically, and what it meant to be an American, we are left with only tolerance and pluralism to hold us together.” I would encourage all immigrants to keep their own language and culture. I would replace the melting pot metaphor with a salad bowl metaphor. It is important to insure that we have various cultural sub-groups living in America reinforcing their differences, rather than Americans emphasizing their similarities.

4.       Having done all this, I would make our fastest-growing demographic group the least educated – I would add a second underclass, unassimilated, undereducated and antagonistic to our population. I would have this second underclass have a 50 percent dropout rate from school.

5.       I would then get the big foundations and big business to give these efforts lots of money. I would invest in ethnic identity, and I would establish the cult of victimology. I would get all minorities to think their lack of success was all the fault of the majority. I would start a grievance industry blaming all minority failure on the majority population.

6.       I would establish dual citizenship and promote divided loyalties. I would “celebrate diversity.” “Diversity” is a wonderfully seductive word. It stresses differences rather than commonalities. Diverse people worldwide are mostly engaged in hating each other – that is, when they are not killing each other. A “diverse,” peaceful or stable society is against most historical precedent. People undervalue the unity it takes to keep a nation together, and we can take advantage of this myopia.

Look at the ancient Greeks. Dorf’s “World History” tells us: “The Greeks believed that they belonged to the same race; they possessed a common language and literature; and they worshiped the same gods. All Greece took part in the Olympic Games in honor of Zeus, and all Greeks venerated the shrine of Apollo at Delphi. A common enemy, Persia, threatened their liberty. Yet, all of these bonds together were not strong enough to overcome two factors … (local patriotism and geographical conditions that nurtured political divisions …)” If we can put the emphasis on the “pluribus,” instead of the “unum,” we can balkanize America as surely as Kosovo.

7.       Then I would place all these subjects off-limits – make it taboo to talk about. I would find a word similar to “heretic” in the 16th century – that stopped discussion and paralyzed thinking. Words like “racist”, “xenophobe” halt argument and conversation. Having made America a bilingual-bicultural country, having established multiculturalism, having the large foundations fund the doctrine of “victimology,” I would next make it impossible to enforce our immigration laws. I would develop a mantra – “because immigration has been good for America, it must always be good.” I would make every individual immigrant sympatric and ignore the cumulative impact.

 

According to the World Net Daily these were remarks made in 2004, Richard D. Lamm, former governor of Colorado, addressed a conference sponsored by the Federation for American Immigration Reform in Washington.

Here’s the scary thing: it’s true. Lamb did say these things.

Even though, he said it years ago, he told Snopes that not only did he say those words, he is proud of it. Understand that the far left is globalist. I’m not talking about free trade. I’m talking about a one world government.

The end of the e-mail talking about the response to the speech (I have no idea who wrote it) said, “There was no applause. A chilling fear quietly rose like an ominous cloud above every attendee at the conference. Every American in that room knew that everything Lamm enumerated was proceeding methodically, quietly, darkly, yet pervasively across the United States today. Discussion is being suppressed. Over 100 languages are ripping the foundation of our educational system and national cohesiveness. Even barbaric cultures that practice female genital mutilation are growing as we celebrate ‘diversity’. American jobs are vanishing into the Third World as corporations create a Third World in America . Take note of California and other states. To date, ten million illegal aliens and growing fast. It is reminiscent of George Orwell’s book ‘1984′. In that story, three slogans are engraved in the Ministry of Truth building: ‘War is peace’, ‘Freedom is slavery’, and ‘Ignorance is strength’.
 
“Governor Lamm walked back to his seat. It dawned on everyone at the conference that our nation and the future of this great democracy are deeply in trouble and worsening fast. If we don’t get this immigration monster stopped within three years, it will rage like a California wildfire and destroy everything in its path, especially The American Dream.”

The irony is that all of this was written before the nonsense before congress in 2007. Amnesty is amnesty.

Here’s how I’d handle it:

Build the fence. Period.

Find out who is in this country. I’m not that worried about Central Americans. I want to know who they are and where they are. If they are felons, deport them. Today.  The others should have to register. We want to know who you are – more importantly, we want to know where you are.

The thing that worries me the most is the comment, “We can make the United States a ‘Hispanic Quebec’ without much effort. The key is to celebrate diversity rather than unity. As Benjamin Schwarz said in the Atlantic Monthly recently, ‘The apparent success of our own multiethnic and multicultural experiment might have been achieved, not by tolerance, but by hegemony. Without the dominance that once dictated ethnocentrically, and what it meant to be an American, we are left with only tolerance and pluralism to hold us together.’ I would encourage all immigrants to keep their own language and culture. I would replace the melting pot metaphor with a salad bowl metaphor. It is important to insure that we have various cultural sub-groups living in America reinforcing their differences, rather than Americans emphasizing their similarities.

No governor, what makes this country is our commonality. Diversity is fine, except that it results in a Balkanization of our country. A few months back, I made the point that I am as afraid of the far right as I am al-Qaeda.

Go to Mexico or France (or Quebec for that matter). They won’t speak English to you. Why should we not force people from other countries speak English? We are already feeling the effects of diversity. Somalian women in this country undergo horrible procedures because of Sharia law.  No one says a word.

I am not so sure how long the far right is going to tolerate this.  Neither presidential candidate is inspiring a whole lot of confidence.

The e-mail writer, wrote, “If we don’t get this immigration monster stopped within three years, it will rage like a California wildfire and destroy everything in its path, especially The American Dream.”

Let’s pray he’s wrong.

The facade of vanity receding

I had the television on as I always do as I slipped into slumber. When I was about to embrace somnambulant brain waves, I heard the words Vagisell and “fresh.” Then I found I could get this much-vaunted sparkle through new revolutionary wipes.
I was awake. I put on my glasses to see a young blond girl traipsing through life with that wide-eyed innocence and wonder that only a wipe could give. As the girl rolled around in flowers, the perky female voice informed me that these conveniences could cure a passel of female problems and began to list them.
As the girl stood on a cliff over the roiling sea, the sprightly tinkle of laughter cascaded the room as the announcer began to list the more intimate uses for these world-shattering innovations. They were even good for…
“Oh For God’s sake,” I said aloud. “TMI.”
Why do I, a 55 year old male need this information? I switched channels.
I learned that in the criminal justice system, sexually-based crimes are especially heinous… If a bunch of old guys with guitars offends my sensibilities as they wax eloquent of their turgidity, I really don’t need to know what travails young girls on the ever-eternal quest for that special shiny feeling must endure.
I buried my head in the pillows and went to sleep amid mayhem. I awoke to mayhem as well.
I like the morning newspaper. I have had a routine for 40 years – by the second cup of coffee, I am at the Letters. I basically know what the reporter and editor have chosen to tell us.
I also know not only are the wheels coming off the track nationally, but locally as well. I think people have been good sports up until now. They could afford to be, but with the glut of real estate for sale on the peninsula, the salad days are gone. The stock market has plummeted 20% in a year and oil has skyrocketed.
Proof of that was exemplified in an article by David Slade in Tuesday’s (July 1) paper. The piece explained that cities in the Trident area were going to have to make do with less. The cost of oil combined with the fall of the residential real estate market has left cities like and Charleston and Mt. Pleasant gasping for air.
The article read of Charleston, “The city planned for fuel prices to rise this year, but not by $900,000. A decrease in business permits has accelerated at the same time.
“’We thought we had it covered, but did not expect it to go up so much,’” said Steve Bedard, chief financial officer for the city of Charleston.
“The city’s spending for gas and oil is expected to rise to $3.7 million this year from less $2.6 million last year. Meanwhile, revenue from permits and fees is expected to decline by $800,000.
“If construction permits and fees drop this year, that means license fees based on business income will likely drop next year, reflecting the slowdown. “
What do you mean you didn’t see this coming? There was certainly no doubt that things were getting hinky at this time last year. Gas and oil were already rising. I wrote about the impact that this would have on Georgetown County a year ago.
Despite this mortgage mess, did you really think the city would grow at the tremendous rate that it was? City government depends upon growth to grow. One thing I have been accused of is being against growth. –Not at all.
I am concerned about growth that is self-sustaining. Can it feed itself?
Development for the sake of government’s insatiable appetite to breed was always a dangerous way to do business. Gas, food and housing are about to melt down. This has happened before on Mayor Riley’s watch in 1979.
At the end of the article, the chief financial officer for the city stated, “If it’s sanitation employees or someone who cuts the grass at a park, we’re still going to hire them,”
Well, Steve, if you do, you might want to send them down to the Battery. I would point to a letter in Tuesday’s P&C.
Written by Richard Hutson, the letter read in part, “It is known that our fair city has a large appetite for parks but not much stomach for maintaining them.
“White Point Garden is a perfect example. Arguably the city’s most historic and important park, it is woefully neglected.
“The last time I met Charleston Parks Director Steve Livingston there to go over some of the deficiencies, he allowed that the number of acres he maintains has increased but that the resources to do so have not kept up. “
The letter catalogued some deficiencies such as raking, overhead limbs and azaleas. Near the end, Mr. Hutson states “There has been talk of a $1 million renovation. Well, that has been nothing but talk for the past couple of years. The park does not need $1 million spent on it. It simply needs to be maintained.”
Bingo. Okay, here’s city government’s chance to shine. Cut back on the feel-good stuff like festivals, ball parks and aquariums. Concentrate on the infrastructure that brings people to Charleston.
It’s almost like downtown Charleston has no say on the city council. Oh wait. It doesn’t. Daniel Island cares nothing that the Battery is eroding, that oyster shells clog drains or water still goes to your waist on the West Side of the city.
Just as a society, our city has become the victim of the vanity of unfettered power. Those who went through the Great Depression and a World War cared little about publically talking about feminine hygiene or erections. I suspect that as citizens of Charleston, we will care less about a new celebration of life in Marion Square than we will the preservation of the community despite efforts otherwise.
As more prosperity entered our lives, we raced to credit government entities for the upswing of our fortunes. Well, if you want credit, you have to eat the blame along with it. The Charleston city government along with many others has been short-sighted and will be taken to task more and more as the façade of vanity recedes.

She Rocks?

 

Having been in journalism for almost 30 years and writing in this space, I have written a headline or two.  It’s not that easy for most people including me. One has to attract the reader with a pithy version of what the article’s about.

There are three headlines that stand out in my mind. The first was the Time Magazine cover that read “Is God Dead?”  that appeared during the mid-60s. I would argue that cover had more to do with secular humanism than anything before or since.  I believe that somebody figured all this out. I am not going to define God save infinite intelligence.  I could make the argument for God here, but at this point you’re on your own.

In this country, you can worship the fatted calf until the cows come home.  What scares me is that as religion dims, there comes a time that fear of death and a lack of perspective regarding the true nature of nature begins to erode the fabric of society. If there is no retribution, then there is no shame. I would argue that American culture already embraces the lack of shame. Witness the children in Massachusetts all pregnant at an age when their highest priority should be getting a date at the prom.

Bad behavior has become the accepted norm by the media in this country.  This is not the bad behavior of sailors on leave, but one with a darker, emptier side. Teenagers are “hooking up,” which is a variation on a theme that their parents and grandparents began with the advent of birth control. I can’t condemn it because that would be hypocritical, but I can caution.

There were no consequences in my generation, certainly none than a shot of penicillin wouldn’t take care of. Today, aside from the inevitability that something goes awry, there is nihilism. If God isn’t dead, these children seem to think He most certainly is taking a nap.  We have wrapped our arms around existentialism without recognizing it for what it is.

We have slid into a society that has to worry about erections lasting more than four hours.  I suspect that were that the case, many couples no matter the age wouldn’t leave the house.  No crime. No war. Imagine there’s no heaven.

The next two headlines fall into the category of the “you don’t say?” department. The first appeared a few years back on both Time and Newsweek. Both announced with gravitas that “Men and Women Are Different!” 

Stop the presses!!!! As they are wont to say in cable news commercials, “But wait, there’s more!”

It must have been a really a slow news week. The article was probably written as filler. Indeed, having had to sell newspapers and advertising, I admit that nothing grabs ‘em more than the promise of sex, but this was a tribute to the painfully obvious.  For one, to revisit Monty Python, men tend not to have wombs and women do not fret over prostate problems.  I didn’t need to spend money to have some reporter solemnly intone that men and women see things differently.  Two weeks of marriage will straighten that right out.

The last headline was in the “Why wasn’t I told this at once?” department.  It read, “Experts Say That World Will Continue To Depend on Oil.”  The Associated Press informed me that despite the rosy prognosis of alternative fuel, the world will continue to rely on petroleum for the foreseeable future.

You could have knocked me over with a feather!

I’m 55. When I was a kid, in the early and mid-1950s, we were promised flying cars. I remember walking my dog the afternoon of January 1^st in 2000. Y2k was over. Microsoft and Apple sold a bunch of software.

As Jack, my long-haired dachshund began a trip to the Beijing Olympics that fine afternoon in the dirt of Waterfront Park along the Ashley River. I stood there in 70-degree weather amid a dome of pure cerulean blue so clear that one would swear the stars were visible.  Sunlight and water did a minuet and I thought about all the ramifications 2000 held.

Then I stopped. I began to scan the water.  I looked over the stadium to the east. Something was missing.

Then it hit me. As a jogging woman gave me a withering look when Jack decided to give back to the earth, I asked myself, “Where are the flying cars? Where the hell are they?”

They were nowhere to be seen. Alarmed, I scrutinized the horizon – nothing.

I was actually somewhat miffed; as I walked the dog back to my 1985 Chevrolet Impala (which was a great car, by the way). I drove home around Hampton Park disillusioned. Two years before, the president lied under oath which is a felony. I had friend go away for forgetting something (or at least, so he claimed) in a sworn deposition. I didn’t care what he lied about; he did so under oath which is obviously a felony. Ask my friend. Around these parts we call felonies high crimes and misdemeanors.  

I was just getting over that. Thinking that maybe a stop at Hampton Park to chase some ducks with Jack might also chase away those pesky blues, I parked that boat of a car, and went for the pond. The ducks — expecting a tasty treat –ran as fast they could towards us, then proving that they belong smack dab where they are in the food chain, dodged around in hope as the dog picked out his next meal. It was quiet at the Citadel.

Nothing… no autos buzzed me playfully as I decided to let one particular duck live yet another day and escorted Jack to the car.  No occupants of soaring sedans honked their horns as Jack and I crossed the crushed oyster shells.  

Still somewhat irate, I drove up 10^th Street in a funk.  What was the world coming to? I remember Mrs. Jenkins, my second grade teacher (who I think was well into her 90s by the time I came along) who in 1959 told us that autos would be airborne by 2000.

She wasn’t here, but I was. Disheartened, I drove to the BP station on Huger Street where I filled the tank of the sedan for $12. I thought to myself, “Can things get worse?”

The short answer is, “Why yes. Yes, they can. “

I won’t belabor this except to say that if more people understood this, we might be okay. As I write these words on June 28^th (which I know is Carolina Day, thanks), I have just passed that gas station. It would take around $60 to fill the tank of that Impala.

I hate to keep harping on this, but we are headed for a perfect storm and all our presumed next leader can proclaim is, “She rocks, she rocks.” That is the headline. It’s not in the top 20 because it is simply inane, not even breathtakingly frivolous.

If I never see a pantsuit again, we’re all good. (My biggest concern is the fact that Clinton and Obama claim that it was a coincidence that they both wore royal blue in Unity, New Hampshire, for the press love-fest as if anyone believed a word they were saying. For God’s sake, if you are going to lie about that, what else are you going to lie about? Haven’t we had enough of duplicitous obfuscation?)

Mrs. Jenkins didn’t lie. The stuff going on today would pass all of her understanding.  One headline I’d like to see is: “Politician Tells The Truth!”

Ahhh… We can all dream can’t we?

Meanings and Intonations

There are a lot of things that have me in high dudgeon: Islamo-facism,  the price of gas and the lack of the keenly obvious,  the fact that the Supreme Court cut a murder and rapist a break, Keith Oberman,  the proposed toll road across John’s Island (Kudos to that Gilbreth boy on last Thursday’s column), Joe Riley’s unfortunate role in the Sofa Super Store and so much more.  

But then there are e-mails (Writer’s note: The irony of what I am about to posit bites me on the behind).

I have scads of stuff ton my aol account that I didn’t ask for.  Mind you, when I was editor of the Charleston Mercury, I subscribed to a lot of things such as the Republican and Democrat local, state and national news letters. Through some miracle, my partner in crime is able forward a lot from the editor@thecharlestontimes.com site to the housebios2@aol.com account — Just as an aside, I also subscribe to NewsMax.com, Chris Matthews and a host of other sites with opposing viewpoints.  (Just because, I’ve become an irascible curmudgeon doesn’t mean other people don’t have valid points. I just give you my take on things.  Separating the wheat from the chaff is often problematic.)

A few things I didn’t ask for and will get no matter how much I beg: Wannafoolaround143 from Willington likes my picture ( I think I’m on My Space) and would like to meet me for walks on the beach and sky diving (there better be a little something else there, missy). 

About 15 companies want to clean my colon. It disturbs me that so many people know that I am plopped down in middle age and might need their service. Number one, I am six feet and wear a size 34. I think we might want to give losing 20 pounds a miss this trip.

A lot of people send me information about real estate. Obviously, they didn’t check my credit score.

Then, there are the three girls who lived three blocks away from where I stayed who were waiting just for me!!!  The thing is I might be back home and by all rights single, again, but I’ll kiss your behind on Broad and Meeting at noon if three 21-year old girls are sitting around the house doing their nails and watching soap operas waiting for an Instant Message from me.

Then there’s the notion that I have a hard time dealing with at least one woman my age after 19 years of marriage (I have this hard and fast rule that you must know that Paul McCartney was in a band before Wings).  I can’t imagine dealing with three women at the same time.

My passion and avocation are writing, the manipulation of words are magic to me, the tone and pitch of words make a keyboard either a grand piano or tin pan upright. There is a rhythm to words, their meanings and intonations notes – on a sheet of music.

Writing isn’t paying the bills, yet, although I am waiting for three phone calls. The best part of being a writer is feeling the nuances – the worst is waiting hoping that the editor thinks you have written something well-said. Interestingly, there are other ways to skin a cat (exactly when does that really come up?).

I gave tours for 20 some-odd years and wrote 20-some house biographies in eight years. I was blessed to write, “Do You Know Your Charleston?” I’ve gained a lot of knowledge – a lot more than I had when I stopped giving tours in 1999.

Rule One: Life is something that gets in the way of your plans. Thus, I have gone back to giving tours from the corner of Murray and East Battery at 9:30 am, daily.  I’m just too old to go out in the heat after noon  and one tour company screwed the pooch for tours downtown after 6:30 in the evening.

I managed to injure myself fairly badly a few years back, so marching around in the sun has lost its magic.  The thing is my new tour begins on the Battery and goes no further than Broad Street.  To see the new web site go to http://www.charlestonmagicalhistorytour.com/

It was a lot of fun to put this together. On the site are two videos you might enjoy.  The first is an edited version of a DVD I did with Pete Peters and Keith Dutton. The second is a short silent film of the War in Charleston.  I used pictures from Danny Petterson’s collection (To view his company and collection, go to www.pettersonauction.com — it’s re-discovering your grandmother’s attic)), Harper’s Weekly and the Library of Congress and other stuff from the public domain.

There is also a recollection of Hugo and pieces of house biographies. People have said that I have criticized tourism for years, but I think things aren’t really going to sink in until heating oil bills start arriving. My concern has always been that making tourism your main industry subjects a city to vagaries of the market.

Earlier this year, I gave about six private tours just to get my feet wet. Beginning Saturday, I will give an hour and a half tour daily. I have given a six hour tour along the same route, so I have to do a lot of editing. I enjoy showing Charleston to people who care. You will notice there is no children’s rate. There is no shopping or restaurants along my route. You get history from a native.

Apparently, I have to be politically correct. I made the mistake when describing how Fort Sumter occurred by using the word “Yankee.” it appears that this was edging  my toe up to hate speech. The fellow from a Mid-Western state told his host how offended he was. (He tipped me pretty well, so I was surprised.)

I once got fired (surprise!!!!) for writing that growing up; Charleston had been a beautiful woman. Her clothes were threadbare, but God, she had a sense of humor. I wrote back in 1992, that the hurricane had given her new attire, but she had Alzheimer’s. I opined that Charleston had managed to retain her charm but had lost her character.  

I would later write that I felt that its charm had been destroyed by the rush to become Charlotte South.  It’s still white-knuckling its way there although that pesky mortgage thing has slowed things down.

I drove around a lot before I made the decision to give tours again. My first tour in nine years was pretty much like my last. After 10,000 tours, you either have it down or you don’t.

My decision not to go above Broad was because, as I have said here and in other venues, Charleston has become a commodity, not a community.  I can’t show you today’s community, but I can show you mine.

I can show you stuff only natives know, remember or care about. Do tourists care? Well, when I left nine years ago, many didn’t.  The questions were about shops. Although, I had been married for 10 years, I then (as well as now) tolerate shopping the way I do a golden retriever with an amorous attraction to my leg.  I was the wrong man to ask.

I could be wrong, but I think what with food and oil going through the roof, fine dining and shopping are reserved for honeymoons and anniversaries this trip.  According to a friend who is now Mr. Big Shot at a city attraction, attendance is still up.

He was manager of a carriage company during and after 9/11. It is his claim that we are bullet-proof – that tourism will always thrive as it did after those horrible days.  I hope he’s right.  The thing is that al-Qaeda tried blow up Saudi Arabia’s oil refineries today (Thursday, June 26), and the price of rice is 17 times higher than it was at the beginning of the year.

It ain’t the same.

Will tourists come? I think so, but they will be tourists I knew back in the early ‘90s when Charleston was the primary destination, not an overnight stay. This would be a boon for me and some of the older tour companies.  These would be visitors interested in history – not glitz – heritage tourism.

Going above Broad, one ventures into Riley World, a Charleston my grandfather, Charles Ravenel, would recognize as easily as he would Epcot. I have called this area “The Disneyland of History” because it has no real bearing on what Charleston was or is.  

Instead, I try to show you the old lady with the sharp sense of humor.  I try to use the manipulation of magic words using the tone and pitch of those words to make a keyboard that will play a symphony that is the beauty that is Charleston.

I’ll let you know how that works out.

“It was a cloudy day, and the clocks struck 13.” — George Orwell

I got a call today from a friend who told me about some cameras that focused on the stoplight between her state capitol and governor’s mansion.  She was nonplussed.

I told her about the gunfire detectors over on the East Side of Charleston.  There are cameras everywhere, here. I didn’t like it when it happened, and I am not comfortable with the idea, today.

In his book Odd Hours, Dean Koontz observes: “Since cell phones have become ubiquitous public pay phones have been more difficult to find. Someday, the telephone will be a small voice-activated chip embedded just above the jaw line and under the ear, and then cell phones will be as outmoded as the coin-operated variety that they have gradually, but steadily replaced.

“Those commentators who explain our world to us and tell us how we feel about it will call the embedded phone “progress.”  And when someone from the government wishes to speak with you they will always know where to reach you and, because of your implant’s transponder signature, where to find you.

“This will go a long way toward discouraging the endless quarreling and tiresome debate that characterize our current society, which to so many impatient citizens seems old and tired. All that has been will be blown away, and you may be frightened sometimes, by all the changes, but those who have the perspective and ability shape societal consensus are sure as they have ever been about anything that, in the end, you will like your new world and feel it is a paradise on earth, so just shut up already.”

This is but three paragraphs in a 345-page book, yet this passage describes our near-future cogently and succinctly.  The technology isn’t coming. It’s here. The wheels are coming off the track.   

I happened to catch an article about hate speech in the International Herald Tribune. Hate speech and hate crimes seem somewhat superfluous and dangerous to me.  First, the issue of hate crimes:  If you beat the hell out of someone or kill them, there was obviously not a lot of lost love lying around the room, in the first place.  Personally, I think if you commit first degree murder or rape, you should go away for life.  Assault would be 15 years.  The dickens with how bad the perpetrator’s life has been. That person has made other people’s lives  a living hell.

Hate speech is pert near impossible in this country.  Our First Amendment provides free speech.  Period.

Besides, the slippery slope of government regulating speech by law does not take into account two things in particular. The first is what was acceptable 15 years ago is no longer tolerable. The second is like unto it, why is okay for one black person to call another a racial epithet , but a hate crime for anyone else to do it?

There are too many variables.

Still, that might be changing. The headline in the Tribune read, “Hate Speech or Free Speech?  What much of the West bans is protected in the U.S.”

Read the whole piece, here.

The author writes,” A couple of years ago, a Canadian magazine published an article arguing that the rise of Islam threatened Western values. The article’s tone was mocking and biting, but it said nothing that conservative magazines and blogs in the United States did not say every day without fear of legal reprisal.

“Things are different here. The magazine is on trial.

“Under Canadian law, there is a serious argument that the article contained hate speech and that its publisher, Maclean’s magazine, the nation’s leading newsweekly, should be forbidden from saying similar things, forced to publish a rebuttal and made to compensate Muslims for injuring their ‘dignity, feelings and self respect.’

I see. Running articles calling for the destruction of Israel is just fine, thanks, but running something critical to Islam is anathema to Western Civilization – which, incidentally Muslims have had no part in and they want to destroy.

The article goes on to describe the freedoms that we have. All over the West, we have accepted tripe having been told it’s pate. When Sandra Day O’Connor was on the Supreme Court, she suggested using international law as a template not the U.S. Constitution. Not a chance.  

They are called the “Bill of Rights,” for a reason.

The problem is that we are actually swayed by the culture mistaking it for society.  It is the culture that is so accepting of change for the sake of it, not aware of the consequences. In a culture that accepts worth for value, it is really not such a stretch that we could mistake society for culture.

American society is rooted in a fundamental decency in which everyone is created equal — From there, your own your own. Everyone has strong likes and dislikes. That makes for a messy situation at times.

Still, one cannot yell fire in a crowded theater. One cannot incite violence. Calling people names doesn’t hurt them. It may raise their dander, but no physical harm occurs.

Right now, the country can’t wire-tap terrorists but can fine you if discard a government-mandated light bulb in the wrong way. I don’t know. It just seems to me that we have our priorities askew.

Just think about 15 years from now. Hate speech legislation is passed, and the implantable cell phone is de reguir.

Both will be crafted as benefits to society. People will raise hell, but “in the end, you will like your new world and feel it is a paradise on earth, so just shut up already.’”

The clocks are striking 13, and we are worried about Angelina’s sex life during her pregnancy.  Our world is coming down around our ears, and we just flip the channel, because it is all too unpleasant to think about.

Every time a society tries to create heaven on earth, it creates an Orwellian dystopia. One would think we would learn, but this assumes one can think.

 

 

 

 

Some Observations

Sorry it’s been so long between missives, but my number one rule is that life is something that gets in the way of your plans. Life and I have gone 12 rounds as of late, but my love of reading was beaten like the fear of God into me at a very early age. I caught so much upon which I wanted to comment, but was unable to so do through circumstances.

Therefore I have a few observations with which I would like to share with you. As I write this, I have the news muted.  One scene that is haunting me is the enormity of the flooding along the Mississippi, neighborhoods flooding.  This is bigger than Katrina, and we will suffer serious consequences from it because the price of food (corn doesn’t just fuel cars, it nourishes livestock and humans) will rise exponentially.

What strikes me is that despite the fact that the effects of this flood will be far more devastating to you and me than Katrina, I see no looting. I see no one shooting at relief helicopters. I hear no impatient angry cries for the intervention of the federal government as neighbors see the problem and help one another fill sand bags and pray that the water doesn’t breech the levee.  They are not waiting for the federal government to come to their rescue. 

They are Americans. They are self-sufficient.

We are Americans. We are masters of innovation. We are generally kind and generous by nature. When the chips have been thrown violently to the table, we are the Boy Scouts in Iowa last week. Despite the fact that their number had been diminished by the capriciousness of nature in the form of a tornado that ripped their camp and their lives asunder, the untouched saved the wounded survivors long before help of any kind appeared on the horizon.

 They probably violated a number of OSHA rules, but to those children government rules meant nothing – government regulations were trumped by the truth of reality. 

In Charleston after Hugo, there was no such thing as race. It didn’t matter if you were rich or poor, black, white or Hungarian. Money couldn’t buy power in those dark days because there was none to be had. Nature not only cares not about your skin color, it doesn’t seem to give a rat’s behind about the content of your character.

The surge of the Mississippi is headed dead on towards New Orleans.  Let’s see how that self-sufficiency business works out for them.  Remember that this flood is relentless and is affecting a much larger population than the city of N.O. 

I have been struck by media coverage. Anchors do not get breathless as they describe the river overflowing its banks.  Wait’ll the flood hits the Crescent City.  Somehow, it will W’s fault.  Blah, blah, blah.

If I lived on St. Charles Street, I’d figure out that it might be time to head for the hills. Let’s see if local buses can pop by the 9^th ward this time.

 We are Americans. Failure, while an option, is not inevitable.  I believe that the less government, the better chance for success.

As Peggy Noonan said last week, “America is always looking forward, not back, it is always in search of the fresh and leaving the tried. That’s how we started: We left tired old Europe and came to the new place, we settled the east and pushed West to the new place. We like new. It’s in our genes. Hope we know where we’re going, though.”

(To read the whole piece click here.)    

At some point during the whirlwind, I read one my favorite local columnists, R.L Schreadley, as well. He backed up what I’ve been saying for a long time – for five years. It involves oil. However, at the beginning, he quotes Howard Beale whose mantra is the title of this space:

“I don’t have to tell you things are bad. Everybody knows things are bad. It’s a depression. Everybody’s out of work or scared of losing their job. The dollar buys a nickel’s worth; banks are going bust; shopkeepers keep a gun under the counter; punks are running wild in the street, and there’s nobody anywhere who seems to know what to do, and there’s no end to it.

We know the air is unfit to breathe and our food is unfit to eat. And we sit watching our TVs while some local newscaster tells us that today we had 15 homicides and 63 violent crimes, as if that’s the way it’s supposed to be.

So, I want you to get up now. I want all of you to get up out of your chairs. I want you to get up right now and go to the window, open it, and stick you head out and yell, “I’m mad as hell, and ,I’m not going to take this anymore!”

Schreadley goes on to make many of the same points as mine on this space a few days before, but he blames the politicians, to whit:

 Let’s understand one thing at the start. The world market for oil is not a free market. The law of supply and demand does not function when the supply side of the equation is manipulated by a giant cartel, in this case OPEC, and its perhaps unwitting facilitator, Big Oil. Let’s call this what it really is: a deliberate attempt by America’s enemies to destroy our economy and bring our nation to its knees. Yes, we are in a real war. We just haven’t done a very good job of identifying who it is we should be at war with, much less how we should fight it.

A vast transfer of wealth is taking place in the world. The fruits of Western civilization, labor and ingenuity are flowing insensibly to repressive and backward regimes that by an accident of political geography sit on vast reserves of oil and natural gas. And what is Washington doing to end this senseless dependancy? Fiddling like Nero while Rome burned?

Democrats want to tax the “windfall profits” of the oil industry as if this tax would not wind up on the backs of consumers. They want to keep in place the insane ban on drilling our own proven and potential domestic oil and gas reserves. Republicans want to drill in Alaska and in our coastal waters to lessen the need for foreign imports. Where were they when they controlled for seven years the White House and the Congress? The presidential candidates support “cap and trade” legislation that almost certainly will drive energy prices in America even higher.

Doesn’t anyone remember the Arab oil embargo of the 1970s, shortages, long lines at the pump, Nixon’s wage and price controls, Jimmy Carter’s stagflation, the misery index, etc.?

If the policies of Democrats and Republicans take effect, you can bet your SUV and your $4-a-gallon gasoline (soon to be $5) that it’s going to be a Yogi Berra deja vue all over again.

Only this time it will be worse. We have not built a new refinery in 30 years and must now import a substantial amount of gasoline. We’ve put so many regulatory roadblocks in the way of nuclear power plants (and coal-fired plants) that it takes years to go through the permitting process. How long has the not-in-my-back-yard crowd kept Yucca Mountain from becoming our much-needed national repository for nuclear waste?

Read the whole piece, here

I maintain that until we figure something else out we are stuck where we are.  The thing is we are enveloped by inertia. We’ve yapping about alternatives for oil for 50 years, but nobody’s done damn thing about it – because of the government.

We can, though. We are Americans.  We look forward. Like the unfortunate Boy Scouts, we are about to be hit dead-on. We need to rise from our chairs, raise our windows and scream at the top of our lungs. “I’m mad as hell, and , I’m not going to take this anymore!”  Oh, and remember that life tends to intrude upon your agenda.

Hang Together Or Seperately

I voted today. June 10 is voting day round these parts. I voted for two conservative women, although I think only one stands a chance. (Postscript: At least Scarlett won).

One must remember that things have changed quite a bit in the three years I have been gone. Anyone who knows me well would delight in telling you that often I don’t know where I am going. They changed my voting place. It took me quite a while and gasoline to find it. Yet, find it I did. To me voting is the most important thing we do as Americans. I don’t wear the nametag. I knew I voted. It was no one else’s business.

As I stood in line, I thought about the next time I would stand in such a line (not the same one), and I thought about how different things might be. First gas may be $5.00. Let’s get this straight. If Nancy Polosi and Harry Reid stood up tomorrow and said, “You know China is drilling off our shore, while we are not. It’s time to open ANWR. It’s time to allow off-shore drilling.“ You reckon the price would drop precipitously? It would knock the speculators (which is why the price is rising) into the middle of next week.

I am all for wind, solar, nuclear coal and hydroelectric  power. Let’s do it, for goodness sake.  Whatever happened to Synthetic Energy? For God’s sake, stop talking about how it’s possible.  Let’s do it and shut-up about it.  I am for this technology for a reason. I think the whole idea of the polar bears going extinct is absurd.  Let’s make sure we get from point A to Point B before we worry about the snail darter.

People think that I care nothing for the environment. That’s simply not true. When the Dodds brothers and others (myself included) raised Cain about dredging destroying the eco-system in Charleston harbor 20 years ago, no one paid attention.  I weep that we destroyed that resource for nothing. It is now an underwater desert. I’m just saying that even if global warming were true, let’s make sure we are okay first. We are not the enemy, kids. We’re the good guys despite what the drive-by media and the left would have us believe.  Many of us believe we are on the wrong course. I agree for different reasons.

I have made no secret that I am a conservative. Keep the tax cuts permanent. Everyone blames Hoover and the stock market crash for the Great Depression. Not so. It was the Smoot-Hartley Act that strengthened tariffs and FDR’s encroaching socialism that elongated the misery. Sadly, it was World War Two that pulled us out of the doldrums. It was modern capitalism that pulled things back to a prosperity unseen in human history. It has risen steadily ever since.

Why would anyone want to destroy that? The Democrat Party (Yeah, yeah yeah, David. As if I would change your mind one way or the other), is hell bent on raising taxes. The rich might be getting richer, but figure the fact that there is a plethora of many more rich people, and the poor are getting poorer, but a figure no less than Christ was the one who mentioned that the poor would always be with us.  The middle class however has risen to unprecedented heights in human history. Let’s see if we can keep it that way.

As the old lady in front of me in line filled out some sort of form, I thought about another factor that I don’t think has been on folk’s radar screen. That would be the coming war with Iraq.

An article from NewsMax.com reports:

An Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear sites looks “unavoidable” given the apparent failure of sanctions to deny Tehran technology with bomb-making potential, one of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s deputies said on Friday.

“If Iran continues with its program for developing nuclear weapons, we will attack it. The sanctions are ineffective,” Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz told the mass-circulation Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.

“Attacking Iran, in order to stop its nuclear plans, will be unavoidable,” said the former army chief who has also been defense minister.

It was the most explicit threat yet against Iran from a member of Olmert’s government, which, like the Bush administration, has preferred to hint at force as a last resort should U.N. Security Council sanctions be deemed a dead end.

I don’t think we have clue as to the incredible devastation this will have on this country. Multiply 1979 by 10. This has nothing to do with Congress, Bush or the coming president. This is a global problem. Your vote in November should reflect the fact that we can survive this, We are Americans.

America is the most fantastic country in the world. Does it have warts? You bet. Big ones. The grandest part of the American Experiment, however, is the fact that the citizenry does have some say in how it is ruled.

While the next president can’t stop the sea from rising, won’t lower gas prices or help with your mortgage, he owns the bully pulpit. Whether it is Obama or McCain, that person will have to have enough sense and strength to guide the American people through our toughest times. We will need an FDR and RWR rolled into one.

Right now, I don’t see anyone out there like that, but to tell you the truth, greatness and heroism are not inherent. They show themselves when confronted with trouble.

The American people are the same way. Government cannot solve our problems by and large, but it can lead the way.  We still have a chance to choose that government.

The next time I stand in line to vote in November ( a scant five and a half months from now), I pray we can do so. I hope things don’t get so funky that martial law has been declared.( It should be noted that in 1864, it had been instituted and the presidential election was held nonetheless.)

What I have outlined above may not happen. I pray I’m wrong with all my heart. My point is that things could be drastically altered in five months. A war with Iran would devastate both countries as well as the world economy.

It doesn’t matter. We are Americans. Ben Johnson once said that nothing focuses the mind more than the prospect of being hung in the morning. We are being led up the scaffolding.

I am a conservative libertarian.  There’s no place for me to go. I like Bob Barr, but I won’t waste my vote. I have a friend in Maine who would be considered liberal in these parts, but she has very little place to go, herself — Never in the modern epoch have times been so perilous and our potential leaders so stunningly unprepared.

It doesn’t matter. We are Americans. We are a strong self-reliant people. If things get bad, we’ll figure it out despite our differences. I suspect one of the first things to go will be a tolerance for an intrusive government.

Every generation has been tested in this country. It has been my generation’s privilege and downfall that we have not undergone severe hardship. Yes, ‘Nam sucked, so did the gas lines – for that matter so did disco. Still, compared to the Great Depression and World War II collectively those days were perfect August afternoons in Maine. As a our generation and the ones below us face up to what’s coming, I suspect we will be up to the task in spite of ourselves.

We are Americans.

Ben Franklin once said along the lines of we either hang together or hang separately.

Think about it long and hard before you vote. You might be a Cherokee or black. You might be gay or straight.  You might be liberal, conservative, green or a Whig, for that matter.

You are an American. Get off your behind and vote.  Together, we might figure it out. The alternative is too scary to contemplate.