Chronicles: Alan B. Rowley II - Success Warrior - ECoach - P90X

Sword Point: Copying a Strategy from King George's Playbook

For personal reasons, this may very likely be my last political post until the next presidential election gets under way.

You may remember that right before Ron Paul had a big rally in Missouri, the police were notified that all Ron Paul supporters were dangerous.  Under public protest, that letter was "officially" rescinded and my life as a terrorist was over (at least officially - you know that police were told to still be on the lookout for third party candidate supporters).

My life as a not-terrorist has ended already because now the Department of Homeland Security has labeled me as a Right Wing Extremist.  In fact, according to the Department of Homeland Security, there are a lot of people that are Right Wing Extremists.  Here are some of the people who are a threat to America:

• Hate groups (Really?  You had to put out a memo on this).
• People who are anti-government (If you're not with us, you're with the terrorists).
• People who think government control should be moved to the state and local level (that's where I get lumped into this mess and become a wing nut).
• People who are pro-life.
• People who believe immigration laws should actually be enforced.
• Military veterans (because of McVeigh, you're all suspect - the memo uses McVeigh as the example).
• Anyone feeling economic pressure should be careful because you are susceptible to be recruited into one of the above mentioned wing-nut groups.

This so much reminds me of Bush's skewering of the word "Patriot" during his reign on the throne.  If you disagreed with him, you weren't a patriot, you might not even be a 'Merkin.  Your 1st Amendment Rights did not include criticizing his decisions.

Now, if you disagree with the dangerous financial decisions of our government, you're a wing nut and once again your 1st Amendment Rights don't include criticizing the central government.

One thing that I have found mildly upsetting is the personal attacks on people, including myself.  I don't agree with Obama's economic plan.  I've made that clear.  Instead of showing the strengths of His plan to me and agreeing to wait to see how the thing plays out (or agreeing to disagree), the attack becomes personal and I'm a wing nut.  Can't we argue the merits of the plan without dropping to that level?

I also dislike being automatically lumped in as a Republicrat.  If I don't agree with Obama, I must be a Republican.  Except that I didn't agree with Bush either.  I refuse to take part in the charade that we have a two-party system.  I wouldn't like it if it was truly a two-party system because "us versus them" is too limiting but I see it as a one-party system and I watch as people are played against each other with increasing disgust while politicians laugh all the way to the bank.

Where I think the people who took part in the Tea Party protests should be commended for actually getting out, voicing their opinion, and getting some attention, others think they are nothing but a bunch of whiners and wing nuts.

For me, it's not so much about what was said (because there were plenty of side notes to the protests that I don't agree with) but that people are getting involved and getting vocal.  That has been the political message for this blog from the beginning.  Study the issues, look beyond the words, support what you want, and make your voice heard.  Take an active role in the direction of this country.  That's what these people did and now the Department of Homeland Security has labeled them as a threat to the country.

Today's question is an old one that can never be truly answered but give it your best effort to earn some Sword Points.

Where do you draw the line on the Freedom of Speech?

For me, as far as the Tea Parties go, I think these people should be allowed to peaceably assemble and voice their criticism for bailing out failed businesses and pushing for a budget with an astounding deficit.  I think that a second set of people should be allowed to call the first set whiners and wing nuts.

I don't think that the Department of Homeland Security should send out a memo to law enforcement agencies labeling everyone in the first group as potential terrorists.

I thought it would be Montana first

Sidenote: Yesterday I had a new participant in my fitness class.  I forgot to give him one of my standard instructions.  For the first week, go at half pace and half reps.  Today, I asked him how he was feeling.  "Like I rolled down a mountain."  One of the others in the class said, "Yep, that's about right."

So I thought Montana would officially be first.

Instead it's Texas but in an off-handed way, while playing the GOP vs. Dems game.

I'm talking about secession from the Union.  Texas Governor Rick Perry said that with the way the Federal Government is running, he understands why some Texans might want to secede from the nation.

His remarks are being heavily criticized by the Democrats.  Of course they are.

One thing the detractors are right about is that this is dangerous talk.  Perry is walking a dangerous line in his effort to get re-elected.  Maybe he thinks that people are just venting and that no one will follow through.  Something we all hope. 

On the flip side of that, when enough people start discussing secession or the next revolution, our Representives should start taking a more serious look at their decisions.  It's a mistake to just poo-poo Perry's remarks and pin them solely on Perry without taking into account that he was responding to people in the crowd yelling "Secede!"

It seems to me that both sides have gotten so tied up in their political game that they have forgotten that there are people out here in the real world.  Republicans are trying to jump on the Libertarian band wagon (as far as the economy goes and really it's only lip service to win elections) and Democrats are now criticizing Republicans for *starting* this kind of tactic.  Republicans will ask people to rally 'round to stop socialism.  Democrats will ask people to rally 'round to stop wing nuts.

In the meantime, people are trying harder than ever to get politicians to rally 'round them.  "Listen to us!" they scream.  "Listen or else!" 

Still the power struggle goes on between Republicans and Democrats, listening to the people just long enough to get their next campaign slogan.

Tea Party

Tax day.  Lovely.

Guess what we'll be doing with the windfall tax rebate ($13) that we're getting on our paychecks? 

Paying taxes. 

We had a couple of new sources of income that wasn't taxed or wasn't taxed enough so we get to pay.

In another cruel twist, between Tia and I we are supposed to get about $800 this yea from Obama's stimulus package but the IRS also took away a deduction that was worth $1,200 to us. 

Thanks.  I'd like to tell the government to quit pretending to do me favors.

Today there are supposd to be hundreds, maybe thousands, of protests across the country.  I wonder if any of it will make TV news.  I won't be checking but I am curious.  I'll check news sources online tomorrow and maybe YouTube to see what went on.

The theme of the protest is TEA Party, where TEA stands for Taxed Enough Already.  Wonder if any of them are going to try and disguise themselves as Native Americans.  I know they were sending tea bags to politicians in Washington DC.

On the outside, politicians probably laugh at such antics but behind closed doors, do you think they worry that they are going too far?  Or does the bribe money blind them to what they are doing?  Do they think that people will just keep bending over and taking it?  Do they think so highly of themselves or so lowly of people that they think they can just keep on doing whatever they want without repercussion.

I would love to find an honest politician and ask them what the true thoughts and feelings were in the Congressional Houses.  Is it overpowering greed or stoopidity that guides their decisions and how do they feel about the growing dissent in the country?

Sword Point Sunday: HR 1256

A bill has passed through the House that will put tobacco products under the authority of the FDA.  There are lots of factors to discuss here so feel free to add your thoughts but you must also answer these three questions to earn your Sword Points for this week:

1.  Is there public opinion that products that are FDA approved are safe?  Should there be FDA approved cigarettes?

2.  The FDA sucks ass at doing its current job as we have seen with tomatoes and peanut butter in the last year.  Can we expect them to actually watch over another sector?  How do you watch over a product that is known to kill people already?  What constitutes a safe way to make poison?

3.  What do you think is the point of the bill?

Bonus Post: I Was a Missouri Terrorist for a Week

I meant to post this last week but I being on vacation has thrown off my groove - in a good way. 

Anyway, the State of Missouri put out a memo a couple of weeks ago to their police agencies updating their list of terrorist groups.  Ron Paul supporters were added to the list and were to be considered a threat.

This memo made it to public view and, as you might imagine, was met with a bit of concern.  Supporting a certain congressman automatically put you into a militia according to the Missouri Information Analysis Center.  The public outcry was loud enough that Missouri reversed it's position and took Ron Paul supporters off it's threat list.

So my career in the Missouri militia was short.

Not that everyone got the second memo.

"You got the memo, right?" - Office Space

Some poor kid was trying to fly out of Missouri after a Ron Paul event this week.  He had some Ron Paul bumper stickers and $4,700 in cash in his carry on.  He was taken to a room with several law enforcement officers and questioned about the cash.  He refused to answer questions for them and they threatened to take him downtown to talk to the FBI and DEA.  They were about to do so when supposedly an FBI agent arrived and told TSA to let the poor kid catch his flight.  Obviously the FBI got the second memo.

It's a scary situation when people aren't even allowed to peaceably disagree with the current administrations.  It's a sign of things to come.  The thought police are coming.  Are we ready for the government to have absolute control over our lives?

An article on MIAC.

An article on the poor kid in the airport.  FOX was actually brave enough to report on the incident.  It should have made national news to the point where everyone heard it but that kind of honesty and responsibility in reporting is long dead.

A Novel Approach to Government

For those of you that aren't aware, I'm on the City Council here.  This week we are working on the budget for the next fiscal year.  We do things just a bit differently here than what I've been reading about lately.

With the recession/depression in motion and tax revenues falling, it would seem logical that things funded by taxes should also be shrinking. This is not the case for many.

The Federal Government is expanding as usual and making headlines is New York states expansion of their budget by 9%. 

How are government entities that refuse to shrink or continue to expand going to fund these foolish budgets? 

By raising taxes, creating new taxes, raising fees, and creating new fees.

Okay, I'm not an expert so correct me if I'm wrong.  People are worried about staying in their houses and putting food on their table and Memorial Day gas prices haven't hit yet.  How are these people supposed to pay MORE for government graft.  The parasites are on the verge of recklessly killing the host.

Speaking of raising fees, our electricity company is considering raises prices by 10% this fall.  Nice.  They raised them 12% about 18 months ago.  How much of this can people take?  How much can the government take before the people won't take any more?

Our tentative budget takes more of a common sense approach.  We reduced funding to every department in the city.  To finish out this fiscal year, we are going to be a little short so we are taking some money out of savings.

Savings?  Yes, savings.  During the good years, we put money away to deal with surprises.  We reduced next year's budget so that we won't have to dip into savings next time.  Now that we see what we're up against, we're scaling back every where that we feel we can without losing too much in services.

It all seems like such a no-brainer to me.

How Much Money Does the Federal Reserve Have?

Let's find out, shall we?

HR 1207 has been introduced in the House and so far has 48 Congessional Representatives behind it.  The bill would make it possible for Congress to audit the Federal Reserve.  It seems assinine to me that our government gave complete control of our money over to a bunch of private banks without Congressional oversight.  This bill aims to fix that.

Personally, I think we should get rid of the Federal Reserve but that hasn't seemed to get much support yet.  So, at the very least, let's see what they are doing with our money.

Send your representative an email and let them know that this is a common sense bill that you would like to see backed.  If you don't have your reps email, click on the link above and enter your zip code and you'll be taken to a listing and links for your rep.

For those of you late to the party, the Federal Reserve is one of the biggest factors in the bubble/burst cycles that this country goes through, of which we are in the middle of the bad half of that combo. 

Support the Federal Reserve Transparency Act by telling your representative to support the Act.  We need to get control of our money back or at least see what they are doing with it.  We can do it if we make enough noise.

If you find that your rep is already on board (like mine was), then send them a thank you and ask them to continue to support the bill (like I did).

We need to keep this from getting swept under the carpet.  Go.  Now.  Write.  Do it.

Attorney General Eric Holder is an Idiot

As you might be aware, violence from Mexico is spilling over into the United States, making it more dangerous for Americans that live near the border.

Eric Holder has an idea.  Impose a ban of semi-automatic weapons for U.S. citizens.

I don't think I can add anything to that.  Holder's stupidity shines right through.

I will add a quote from Rep. John Tierney (D - Mass):

"We don't want to get distracted by the gun industry lobby of the NRA trying to talk about (how) every attempt to bring some sanity to the situation is somehow an attempt to get rid of everybody's Second Amendment rights," he said. "That's a red herring."

Yes, John, damn those Constitutional Rights for being such a damn nuisance of a distraction.  If we could just do away with the Constitution, your job would be so much easier, wouldn't it?

And what the hell kind of sanity is it to disarm Americans to stop Mexican violence?  Give me an ass-hat for today's runner up.

Tenuous ties between current events and government action can be done.  Bush mastered it.

"Today Saudi Arabian terrorists blew up the World Trade Center.  My idea for retaliation is to kill one million Iranians."

"We got cho back, Mr. Prez."  For a while anyway, until it starts to destroy our Constitutional Rights and the *our* economy.

Trying to pull it off when Constitutional Rights and the lives of *Americans* is at stake, is going to be a much tougher sell.

People who don't live near Mexico, you know - like, say Massachusetts, might think banning guns is nice and all but people on the border will probably fight the law and then, if it passes, ignore the law. 

Our government is well aware that the actions it is taking is leading toward a revolution and they will be looking for any way to hinder violence aimed back at the government.  Disarming the citizens of their guns and Constitutional Rights is going to be a recurring theme during the next few years.

Article

The Right Thing for the Wrong Reason

I read an article yesterday that I can't seem to find today but I'm sure you can find a similar one if you care enough to search.  The article stated that the Republicans are against Obama's budget because it's going to bankrupt the country.

True enough but the thing that gets me is that you know if McCain would have been chosen by the media and Diebold machines to be president, he would have been doing the same thing.

What have the Republicans been doing for the last 8 years?  Bankrupting our nation, that's what.

Now, suddenly, they think it's a bad idea?  They don't give a rat's ass about whether or not the country is bankrupt.  They are just making a play for the next election.  Which ever group of Republicrats is in power gets more money from lobbyists and special interests.  You know that Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid are scoring BIG time right now. 

By screwing over the country for the last 8 years, the Republicans have probably taken a pay cut in their bribe money.  To get that back, they are going to make noise about Obama's bad choices.  Then, if they win, they'll just keep on doing the same thing that they are criticizing now.

It's just a game to them where score is counted by the amount of dollars they can put in their own pockets. 

QotD: Lobbying

Today, I took the last test for my Political Science class so I should be back to regular blogging starting on Sunday.  For now, let me share you one last quote from my text book:

"More than 25,500 lobbyists spent at least $1.6 billion lobbying Congress in 2002.  This comes to 48 lobbyists and more than $3 million per legislator."

And this is the money that *is* reported.  I'm thinking about running for office.  That's some good bank.