Wednesday, May 20, 2020

Update to "Thoughts on Government"

The Federal Triangle, on Pennsylvania Avenue.

I wrote what follows four years ago. As you may recall, the lead up to the Presidential election was underway, just as it is now. Though I do not believe either party had nailed down who their candidate was to be in May of 2016, though I believe the Dems actually knew exactly who their candidate was going to be, they just hadn't announced it yet. This time around they have their ventriloquist dummy primed and ready to take the stage. At least last time they were actually going to run the ventriloquist, and not the dummy.

The ventriloquist lost that election, and ever since the Dems have been losing their minds. I hear tell that they plan on attempting to impeach the President again. I wonder what trumped up charges they'll foist upon the Senate this time? (That choice of wording was, by the way, intentional.) Criminal conduct is not, however, just at the Federal level. We have a number of state governments who are auditioning to be the next "Fascist Idol."

Anyhoo.

Government is out of control, on nearly every level imaginable and it ain't limited to the jackass party either. So here are my updated thoughts on government, much of what I wrote back then is still, in my mind, relevant today. Updates are italicized. (The original post, avec les commentaires originaux, is here.)

One more thing I will include here, are two quotes provided by Frère juvat on the original post in a comment, true then, true now:
Those who seek power are not worthy of that power. 
― Plato

Those who seek absolute power, even though they seek it to do what they regard as good, are simply demanding the right to enforce their own version of heaven on earth. And let me remind you, they are the very ones who always create the most hellish tyrannies. Absolute power does corrupt, and those who seek it must be suspect and must be opposed. Their mistaken course stems from false notions of equality, ladies and gentlemen. Equality, rightly understood, as our founding fathers understood it, leads to liberty and to the emancipation of creative differences. Wrongly understood, as it has been so tragically in our time, it leads first to conformity and then to despotism. Fellow Republicans, it is the cause of Republicanism to resist concentrations of power, private or public, which enforce such conformity and inflict such despotism. It is the cause of Republicanism to ensure that power remains in the hands of the people.

― Barry M. Goldwater
And the people say, Amen.

So Mesdames et Messieurs, without further ado, Sarge's...

(Source)
I have always felt that government - at any level - has two primary functions, for lack of any better terms I'll call those two functions infrastructure and protection. If any government cannot provide either of those two functions, that government deserves to be replaced. Mind you, government is not some thing or machine, no, government consists of people either elected, appointed, or anointed. If the people in government aren't doing the job, get others who will.

I still believe that, all of it. If you have an employee who isn't doing their job, explain their deficiencies to them, if they don't get the message, replace them. It's why we have elections people!

(Source)

By infrastructure I mean roads, railroads, bridges, canals, seaports, airports, schools, hospitals, cemeteries, parks, beaches and the like. Things that people need to get from point A to point B. Things whereby the productive folk can move their goods from source to marketplace to consumer. Places to teach the young, places to care for the sick, and places to inter the dead. Recreation in the forms of parks and beaches are useful and I think necessary.

Not all levels of infrastructure are the bailiwick of all levels of government. For instance, the Federal government should set standards, let the States themselves figure out how to meet those standards. If they refuse? Well, no Federal funding for you, okay?

Protection takes a number of forms. Protection from natural disasters could be viewed as part of the infrastructure but I view this as the duty of weather services, both local and national. Protection from crime, from fire, from stupid people (there are reasons for zoning laws, some being better than others).

I kind of missed the boat on assigning protection from natural disasters to the "weather services." They warn us so we can take the appropriate measures to protect ourselves, let me repeat that, protect ourselves. Of course, there are times when no matter what you do, you get nailed. Then the States themselves provide the initial response, if they are overwhelmed by the scope of the disaster, then (and only then) can the Feds step in. By the way, this virus-thingee is not a natural disaster.

(Source)

On a national level the people require (not need but require) protection from invaders, both armed and otherwise. (Trust me, illegal immigrants are a massive drain on local services. Those who don't wish to assimilate are here to make our home like their home. If their home is so damned wonderful, why are they here?)

No changes there, still believe that.

(Source)

It is not the business of government to involve themselves in the private lives of their citizens as long as those citizens are not harming anyone else. (For instance, an individual's right to go where they wish ends at someone else's property line. Your right to free speech does not mean that that speech need not have consequences. While I have the God-given right to call my boss an idiot, he has the God-given right to fire my ass should I do so.)

Different levels of government should not meddle at other levels. For instance, the Federal government has no business dictating to the individual states what those states can and cannot do, as long as those states are not in contravention of the Constitution of the United States as a whole.

By the same token the individual states should not meddle in Federal territory. For instance, Rhode Island may not enact a mutual defense treaty with Croatia. (I know that would be impractical and illogical in addition to being illegal under the Constitution.) But if Rhode Island wants to make common cause with Connecticut in an area of mutual interest, what right does the Federal government have to interfere? Provided of course said common cause does not violate the Constitution.

A number of distractions currently in play have the Feds interfering with state governments. Things which they have no business interfering with, such as who goes to the bathroom and where. Really DOJ? Aren't there existing Federal laws being broken which should demand your attention? (And threatening to cut off Federal funding? Where do you think that money came from? Washington DC? No. It came from the states. How about we cut off your funding?)

Cutting off Federal funding is a useful tool for the Feds to enforce national standards in education, road maintenance (not fire trucking speed limits), air traffic control, etc. The DOJ overstepped its bounds during the last administration, and is probably still guilty of that. Oh, one more thing I didn't mention back in 2016, unless the college/university you're talking about is West Point, the Naval Academy, the Air Force Academy, or the Coast Guard Academy, no Federal funds for you, ever. (Unless you have a vibrant and useful ROTC detachment, then you can get simoleons from Uncle Sam, but only for that.)

It's all bread and circuses. Distractions meant to entertain and confuse. If you think the nonsense coming in over the transom every damned day is not orchestrated, you probably need to rethink the way you look at things. There's an agenda out there and reasonable, limited government is not on that agenda. I'm not saying I know what's going on, but I smell a rat.

It really is all bread and circuses and most of the media are complicit in that. They lie to us so often that most of us have ceased trusting them altogether. Of course, as recent events show, the government (at all levels) are pretty accomplished liars themselves.

And yes, the nonsense surrounding this virus-thingee, illegal orders from state governors and the actions of certain police forces (which the Cossacks of the Tsars would be so proud of) spring to mind and is the precise reason for me repeating this old post.

The Ideal...

(Source)

I think we've lost our way. Let's start making noise and get back to the ideal. Damn it, this is our country we have a right and a duty to make it work for the benefit of all citizens. Not just a privileged few. And yes Congress, I'm looking at you!

Let me emphasize one thing in that last paragraph ALL CITIZENS! Not those who are here illegally, not just those who have more money than others, not just those who follow any particular religion (or none at all), not just those whose skin is a certain color, not just those who vote for one party rather than another. ALL CITIZENS OF THESE HERE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!!

We must all hang together, for if we don't, we shall surely hang separately... (with apologies to the late, great, Benjamin Franklin.)

It is to weep.

Securing soap box activities at this time. Smoking lamp is lit, stand down from general quarters. That is...

Carry on.




40 comments:

  1. Actually we don't know who the Dems are running for President. Biden is clearly cognitively impaired something that does not get better. Amazing that great news reporters do not see this, but as an old fart who has lost a step and seen others suffer dementia, it is not just a maybe, it is an is...whatever the meaning of is is.

    But then nothing surprises me in a country that goads a man to plead guilty under pressure and when withheld information comes out proving he was railroaded then wants to convict him for PERJURY. because he pleaded guilty when he was innocent and now to change his plea he is guilty of perjury for lying about his original innocence.

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    1. I suppose I should've said putative nominee. Though from all accounts that's exactly who the Dems are going with, the big news will be who the vice presidential nominee will be. The Dems will provide an heir-apparent for Biden. I agree though the man is no longer in control of his faculties.

      As to Flynn, they rigged the game, the general had no chance. Will the perpetrators of that persecution be held to account? Not in this life I fear.

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    2. So, if someone pleads guilty to murder to avoid a death penalty when fake evidence is stacked against him, then the real killer confesses after DNA proves he was the real killer, should we charge the first man with PERJURY for lying to save his skin? This whole Flynn concept boggles my mind. This country can not possibly be that stupid...can it? THis is like a cheap Lifetime movie channel movie where the bad guy is never dead until you drive a stake in his heart and set him on fire!

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    3. Exactly, Joe. Certain members of the political class have gone stark raving mad.

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    4. I fully expect that the 'convention' will nominate some dark horse to step in 'for the good of the party and the nation' and... it's not going to be any of the previous candidates. Some woman who used to sleep at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave and hasn't stayed out of politics since, oh, January 20th, 2017.

      And this has been set up and programmed long ago, as people knew SloJoe couldn't handle it at the end of January 20, 2017. So they in charge of the DNC ran SloJoe to wipe out all challengers (who really won what few primaries actually occurred, hmmmm?) and then planning on either mating him with his replacement. But his dementia/oldtimers has pushed the program up a bit.

      Seriously, the whole primary thing was a farce to begin with, with the media falling behind him even before he 'won' his first.

      Yeah, no pre-controlled conspiracy there....

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    5. Makes me sick that the people who vote that way don't notice. Maybe they're so indoctrinated they don't care anymore?

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  2. CONGRATULATIONS!!! You have lived in and breathed the air of "The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations" long enough to have absorbed the philosophy of the original settlers and founders of this domain. We did not ratify the Constitution until the Bill of Rights was enacted and the spirit lives on , although somewhat subdued. Rhode Island still has a law on the books stating that every male between the ages of 16 and 60 is subject to call up by the Governor for military service. Our state constitution vests more power in the legislature than the Governor, which is why she has been very careful to say social distancing, masking up, etc. are recommendations. Things did not get screwed up until the Feds declared that both houses of the State Legislature had to be based strictly on population and not local boundaries. Old Guns

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    1. Federal overreach, again. How Little Rhody apportions its legislature should be of no concern to the Feds as long as no gerrymandering is involved.

      But yes, our governor could have gone full idiot like the governors of New York, California, Michigan, and Virginia had it not been for the wisdom of our forebears. Recommendations are proper, orders from some despot are not!

      The longer I live here, the more I "get it."

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    2. People living more than 20 minutes from Providence tend to view the Statehouse much the same way as the Blue states view Washington. Old Guns

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  3. There's one good thing about the response to the pandemic, the number of petty dictators that revealed themselves in the persons of governors. state AGs, mayors. city/county council members, police chiefs et al. The vast majority belong to ONE political party, a party that doesn't wish to waste a crisis. There are a number of names added to the list since Lois Lerner started one for me.

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    1. Self-identifying of potential threats to our freedoms is appreciated, it's good to keep a list, know where the threat is.

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    2. Nylon, you got here first with my planned response. Sarge is right the other party isn't free from petty dictatorship, but it is predominate in the jackass party, you know the one with a donkey as its mascot. Even in my little fairly conservative town, there are members of that party. Their letters to the editor in the weekly paper are, shall we say, illuminating in what they would do if elected. That having been said, many of my co-workers at the school district are members of the jackass party. However, in a few recent conversations they have conveyed their concern with the direction the jackasses are headed. Not in so many words, as that would cause them to be ostracized from the herd of jackasses, but in the milque toast rebuttals to my comments. So, maybe there's hope. One can pray, as allowing the jackasses free rein on their policies will, sooner or later, lead to bad things happening. Like say April 19, 1775?

      Great post, Sarge. You said what I've been thinking way better than I could have said myself.

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    3. My fear is that an April 19th is more likely in the next couple of months than it has been in recent history. Tyrants (petty or otherwise) won't stop until blood flows.

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    4. It's almost like... Trump actually following the law and promising to aid the Governors, but it's the Governor's responsibility to clean up their own little sections of paradise (or not paradise) was planned to show the nation just how stupid and petty the donk tyrants, despots and dictators are. (Or, well, he was just following The Law, and we are finally experiencing a president who follows the law more than any other president in a loooooong time, maybe Calvin Coolidge.)

      As to the Boogaloo, as some call it, yes. We are closer than ever. And as ham-fisted tyrants squeeze the blood out of citizens whom they mistake for subjects, it shortens the gap and makes the trigger-point that much more sensitive. If not in the next few months, certainly by November 3rd.

      I pray for sensibility on all peoples' parts and that the election goes cleanly, with little to no tampering or fraud. Else, sorry, our nation is dead, and it will be not interesting to see what replaces it.

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    5. Concur on your last. I used to think it wasn't possible, now I realize it's VERY possible if not likely.

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  4. EXCELLENT, Sarg… (tears are streaming...)

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  5. Some random thots--

    Social distancing = divide and conquer on a massive scale.

    "Equality, rightly understood,...". Indeed. The progs have long ago twisted equality under the law and equal opportunity (to try) into equality of outcome.

    “Human beings are born with different capacities. If they are free, they are not equal. And if they are equal, they are not free.”

    ― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

    If by the wave of some magic wand, we could return to the original intent of our Constitution and Bill of Rights, a large portion of our population would run for the borders with their hair on fire. Works for me.

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    1. I'd buy maps with my own money and provide them to those fleeing for free!

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  6. AMEN! The Biden dementia issue is interesting to watch. He loses track of what he's saying, which probably happens to a lot of people with dementia, but he is a politician after all so he just keeps talking. Then it turns into this incoherent rambling stream of consciousness thing that is unfortunately almost humorous to watch. They have restricted him to seven minute interviews and they will cut off the interview if the interviewer continues pressing. They realize that that is his limit for coherence.

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    1. Like I said, a ventriloquist's dummy with an insane ass as the ventriloquist. If Biden hadn't been such a long time political criminal I could almost feel sorry for him. Almost.

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  7. "But yes, our governor could have gone full idiot like the governors of New York, California, Michigan, and Virginia had it not been for the wisdom of our forebears. Recommendations are proper, orders from some despot are not!"

    You forgot Oregon and Washington...but I suppose those should be a given as well.

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    1. You're absolutely right CJ, I did forget Oregon and Washington, and was reminded of that this morning reading a few select articles on what those budding Stalinists have announced for their subjects. (If you elect a tyrant, you're no longer a citizen but a subject, you have relinquished your freedom to the masses.)

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    2. Washington used to be a real nice place. Even Puget Sound. No income tax. Shall issue carry . I moved here in the late 1970's, and even into the mid 90's it was a pretty libertarian- conservative place. Then the CA retirees came in, spent a boatload of money on what to them was ridiculously cheap real estate, brought their kids and grandkids and with the aid of big money interests turned it into a replica of CA. We have had some major gun control bills passed here, a half dozen people (Gates M + F), etc) put up like 80 or 90 percent of the money to ram them through. It is damned hard for grass roots to compete with someone who can scribble a check for several million dollars and not even notice. I keep seeing the little outlines of WA state with a "roots" inside- what I want to do is make up bumper stickers that say WA + D = CA. Essentially we are ruled by Seattle and Olympia, the same way Oregon is ruled by Portland Salenm and Eugene, colorado by Denver, etc etc- all due to the USSC decisions on Reynolds VS Simms, and Baker VS Carr. Those decisions are why the cities (D) rule the rest of the states. It took away state senators elected by county, and made them proportional to population.
      And that is exactly why they want to get rid of the electoral college- because the communists (D) are concentrated in the cities.
      Our representation was stolen from us.

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    3. Yup, they want to take over the whole country in the same way.

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  8. I watched, on PBS, "Clarence Thomas: In His own Words."

    If any of you haven't watched this yet, please do. It is a surprisingly apolitical and candid view of Justice Thomas' life, and then the crap about his confirmation will make you seeth and want to go ashootin! Especially when you see Biden as one of the key senators during Justice Thomas' confirmation hearing and hammering the good justice over Anita Hill.

    It is a 2 hour microcosm of all that has gone right and gone wrong within These United States since the 1940's.

    Very well worth it. Track it down. If I was dictator, I'd require it to be shown to every school kid above 5th grade and every college student and teacher and government employee as Justice Thomas is an example of how we should all behave as adults.



    And I am scared. Don't like this. Where did my country go?

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    1. I will track that down. And yeah, I'm scared too. The shite is going too far, too fast.

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  9. (Don McCollor)...it may be a tale, but when I was growing up, a MN governor was making gun control noises. One sparsely populated northern county (where official help was an hour or more away) threatened to deputize every adult male in the county...

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    1. Another politician who hasn't read the Constitution, far too much of that going around.

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  10. I can remember a similar time in our hist not so long ago (circa '69-70) when there were huge waves of unrest roiling society which seemed to portend very dark things for the future--especially when viewed from the U.K where I was stationed. I remember one night at the O-club bar over at the RAF Bentwaters side drinking w. some friends from the 91st TFS ("Bluestreaks") to whom I had first been assigned out of my PCS pipeline move from DaNang before being transferred to the RAF Woodbridge side and the 78thTFS Bushmasters. After viewing the evening news on the BBC about the riots/demonstrations one of the jocks from the 91st turned and mused out loud to no-one in particular: "I'm a loyal officer whose put my life on the line for my country, but if they ever ask me to roll-in on my own people; that's when I turn in my wings.."

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    1. I remember those days well, even though I was nobbut a lad in high school at the time. Seemed like there were some who were hellbent to tear the country down. But yeah, they had some real grievances at the time. Too bad a lot of the noise was generated by Commie agitators. Hhmm, kinda like now.

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  11. Sarge, for some time now I have been pondering the fact that we have essentially evolved into two very different philosophies of government and living, to the point that much like a married couple that everyone privately acknowledges is better off separately than together. I have not seen anything recently that convinces me otherwise. At best, I am not hopeful for the future. The ideal (beyond actually learning to live together, I suppose) is a peaceable divorce, like the Czech Republic and Slovakia - because I do not like the alternative...

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  12. I was going to comment earlier when I had a chance to step aside from the near constant low level anger that I feel watching the would be dictators step up and hear them all announce that you must turn in your neighbors. You cannot be a dictator without a secret police and a network of informers.
    I never did get sufficiently calm.
    Sarah Hoyt's post today said it far better than I ever could.
    "I DO NOT CONSENT."
    https://accordingtohoyt.com/2020/05/20/i-do-not-consent/

    Good post and good comments.

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  13. There's a slow burn and some tight jaws around my neck of the woods.
    What doesn't help is when folks who aren't here and, for all I know, haven't even visited say things like, "That's what you get for electing them."
    Well, lemme tell ya, I don't even know the people who elected them.
    They aren't from around here.

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    1. All clustered around the metropolitan areas would be my guess. Where my kids live is very conservative, but you wouldn't know it from the news. Which is, of course, more concerned with the cities than the countryside.

      Believe me, I understand that slow burn.

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  14. I just finished watching "Created Equal" and join in giving it a "highly recommended". Only some of the faces have changed in the Senate from 30 years ago, but the general smarmeyness of the Democrat side is still there in spades. Boy, I wanted to smack Joe Biden upside the head during his initial questioning of Thomas. I don't have words to express my utter disgust with his manner, his fake bonhomie, during that. And Thomas' response when he finally confronted the committee was nothing short of heroic.

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Just be polite... that's all I ask. (For Buck)
Can't be nice, go somewhere else...

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