Thursday, November 3, 2016

Alphabet Soup



As I watch the news on the recent revelations about even more info coming to light vis a vis Mrs. Clinton and her email situation, courtesy of disgraced US Representative Anthony Weiner and his proclivity for showing his body parts to members of the fairer sex, I keep coming back to one question concerning all of Mrs. Clinton’s scandals. Why now?

She’s already been cleared of any criminal wrongdoing concerning her use of a private email server. Although, in testimony before Congress, FBI Director Comey’s responses to a litany of committee members’ questions, at the very least, sounded like a disqualification against her bid to hold the highest office in the land. The WikiLeaks brouhaha made her, her campaign, and the entire Democrat party establishment (deservedly so) the objects of a lot of scorn, derision, ire, and betrayal, especially among Bernie Sanders supporters.

The Russians, or at least hackers with ties to the Russian government have been blamed for the release of these documents to Mr. Assange and Company. The reason given, of course, was to directly or indirectly influence the outcome of a US presidential election. The Democrats, the media, and a few establishment Republicans feigned outrage over such an act, despite the fact that we’ve had our own dealings overseas doing just that in the third world. 

I’m going to go out on another limb and suggest that it wasn’t the Russians, the Chinese, or anyone closely associated with those governments who pulled this off. I’m thinking that we need to look a little closer to home. We have a hodgepodge of alphabet soup agencies in this country responsible for maintaining the security of this nation and ensuring the safety of its citizenry. In the process of accomplishing these tasks, they have been empowered by an all-encompassing law that was passed in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. Of course, I’m referring to the Patriot Act.

Edward Snowden has been called a lot of things, patriot, traitor, useful idiot, but the one thing that needs to be reinforced amongst all reading this is that he was the source of the disclosure about how much information that federal agencies like the NSA have been collecting on the average American. In testimony before a Senate committee, James Clapper, the Director of National Intelligence, was asked the question about whether he knew that the federal government was spying on American citizens. His response was that the government didn’t do so willingly. The senator posing the question already knew that statement to be a bare faced lie.

In light of the fact that we now know that Big Brother really is watching us, should it come as a surprise to anyone that those at the highest levels of government would be given even more scrutiny? It has been put forward by a television talking head or two that the NSA may actually have all of Mrs. Clinton’s deleted emails. That should not surprise anyone, especially in light of the fact that it was recently uncovered that at least one email service provider may have been charging law enforcement agencies a fee for emails collected on certain individuals, without a warrant. That’s right, corporate America is getting rich selling our information to the government. Barring any sort of written policies or agreements between the subscriber and the company to safeguard personal info, this action is completely legal.

If the NSA had access to the trove of emails from Mrs. Clinton’s servers, as well as gaining access to the accounts of those individuals and organizations she may have been in contact with, then it stands to reason that the folks poring through the information contained therein may have become deeply troubled by the picture that was being painted for them. These sorts of revelations would have been earth shattering, to say the least. You have a candidate for the presidency of this nation who has engaged in the very sort of activities that have sent “untouchable” mafia chieftains to prison, yet their political masters, based on previous instances of corruption and malfeasance at the highest levels of government, haven’t even bothered to lift a finger.

It may be one thing for the hacks in DC to politicize the security of this nation, but the Clintons have taken things a step further and commoditized it. They have been able to capitalize on their positions of power and influence to enrich themselves and their cohorts at the expense of the US taxpayer and our national security (Google the name Uranium One). It’s not much of a stretch to see how a fifth column movement could come into being with the express purpose of exposing such egregious/criminal behavior. Remember, these folks are not political. They are hard-working career people who swore an oath to protect the Constitution, the very fabric of our republic, from all enemies, foreign or domestic.

The question concerning who these documents should be “leaked” to was a no brainer. The only major concern was how to cover their tracks, or in this case, the fingerprint they would leave behind. Given the fact that Vladimir Putin and his government had become a thorn in our sides over the past few years, I’m sure that played a major role in deciding how to disperse the trail of breadcrumbs in such a manner that there could be only one conclusion drawn from what had transpired. Just about everyone fell for it, they were successful.

Based on what we now know, due to waves of disgruntled FBI agents who were about ready to mutiny, Director Comey was basically given no choice but to re-examine any and all Clinton related emails coming his way courtesy of one Anthony Weiner. But what if this wasn’t the only driver of his change of heart? What if that fifth column I mentioned earlier was also whispering into Mr. Comey’s ear? 

Of course, what they’d be whispering to him about would be the scope of information that they had collected on Mrs. Clinton, her campaign, and the party establishment. They’d let him know that he didn’t need to feel intimidated by his political superiors, that he wasn’t alone and that all he needed to do to get back into the fight was to act on the information being provided. This truly was becoming a conspiracy of light.

Pushing all of the political rhetoric aside, no one really knows what a Trump or Clinton presidency would look like. All one can go off of are the track records that the candidates bring to the table. In Mrs. Clinton’s case, it’s one riddled with corruption, double dealing, malfeasance, and vote rigging, to name a few. My guess is that this was more than enough for the keepers of the flame to step in and actually live up to that oath of office.


Q: Who watches the watchers?
A: They’re doing a damn good job taking care of themselves.

Saturday, September 10, 2016

Take it to the Bank

Clarity:

Life is one big lesson divvied up into smaller, teachable moments called experiences.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel. For some, it will be the headlamp of an oncoming train or semi. For others, it will be the freedom that only enlightenment can bring. With my luck, it’ll be the former and not the latter.

Context is key because it helps put things into proper perspective.

Time and distance tend to better enhance our perspective on events.

There are a bunch of folks out there who can’t see the forest through the trees. That’s why they keep running into them. Once you start seeing the forest through the trees, everything else begins to make sense.

Our ignorance does two things to us. It gets the better of us and brings out the worst in us. The same can be said for apathy and arrogance.

Stupidity is an equal opportunity destroyer.

Someone suffering from delirium has obviously lost whatever tenuous grip on reality that they thought they may have had.

Common sense vs fear. One tends to keep the other on the run.

Where there is fear and confusion, there is opportunity to make a profit and take advantage of others.  (An extension of the Emmanuel Doctrine)

Opinions are like assholes, everybody has one, but it’s the ones that make the biggest stink that tend to garner the most attention.

Common sense, sound judgement, and basic decency never go out style.

First rule of civil discourse: never say anything that you’re going to regret later on.

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing, not because of what we know, but because of what we don’t know.

If arrogance is stupidity taken to new heights, and hubris is arrogance run wild, then what does that tell us about hubris?

Dealing with the continual intrusions of reality upon one’s reverie normally signals the beginnings of maturity.

The problem with conventional wisdom is that when it comes to the real world, it is neither.

Perception is not reality, it only colors reality.

Oh, how the truth damns those who would deny it.

The truth is a wild and strange creature, incapable of loyalty or subservience and uncontrollable in its fury.

Sometimes we make fools of ourselves by believing things that aren’t necessarily true, while denying the very things that are.

The things we ignore at our own peril are just that.

Reality, the truth, and the facts have this nasty habit of turning arguments/debates in their favor. Additionally, they could care less what any of us think and tend to hang over our heads like the Sword of Damocles.

You can use the truth, the facts, or reality to back up your opinion, but you cannot present your opinion as the truth, the facts, or reality.

Half the story indicates half-hearted intentions and half-assed effort.

The fact that you agree or disagree with what’s being put out isn’t as important as what’s being said and who’s saying it.

Something that may be simple in theory may not be that simple in practice.

We need to stop thinking about ourselves and start thinking for ourselves.

When you start spouting nonsense, or promoting it, don’t act so surprised when things start taking on a life of their own.

A work in progress is just that. It is by no means a finished product.

Our ignorance informs our biases and our biases continually feed our ignorance. An unbroken cycle.

In the absence of being able to eliminate, the best we can do is educate and mitigate.

Failure is neither an option, nor an outcome. It is a setback that needs to be overcome.

Inspiration. Mother Nature is the original muse.

The source, of course, is where you go, to learn from an entity that’s in the know.

The older we get, the more age and gravity affect us.

Life and the world around us don’t happen in black and white, or shades of gray. They happen in living color.

When it comes to dealing with double-edged swords, the most intelligent course of action would be to stay out of the arcs they cut.

Correlation does not necessarily denote causation. But, every once in a while, where there is smoke, there really is a raging fire.

I don’t need anyone making life difficult for me. I do a good enough job of that by myself.There’s nothing wrong with being wrong, but apparently, there’s something wrong with being right. 

Where there’s duplication or multiple signs, God’s trying to tell you something.


Politics, Government, & Civics:

Cronyism, demagoguery, and identity politics have been the root causes of the stunted development of many societies/nations and the downfall of others.

In crony capitalism, it takes two to tango, and Washington has been Wall Street’s longtime dance partner.

The one ultimatum evil doers around the world need to hear at some point in their miserable lives: cease and desist or cease to exist.

A few choice words about moral hazards:

  • The untenable positions we put ourselves in are the ones that tend to create the most difficulty for others.
  • Suddenly finding oneself in the deep end of the pool is one heck of a time to start learning how to swim.
  • Government is by far the biggest underwriter of moral hazards.

We live in a selfish, materialistic society. Government, instead of trying to curb or discourage us from such attitudes (which it has no business doing in the first place), at times seeks to take advantage of these vices for its own selfish purposes.

In the war of ideologies, the truth and civility are among the first casualties.

The politics of divisiveness, the divisiveness of politics.

Ya gotta love government mandates and edicts. You’re either being spoon fed or force fed.

When there is no infrastructure, there is no inertia. When there is no inertia, there is no resistance. When there is no resistance, you can make a clean break with the past and start over.

The liberal/progressive model for an ideal society can be summed up in two words: no consequences.

I prefer to view politics through the unfiltered lens of history rather than view history through the prism of politics.

Dogmatic individuals tend to suffer under the myopia of their convictions.

Moral Relativism: changing the world, one gullible mind at a time.

Multiculturalism is nothing more than identity politics wrapped in the cloak of diversity.

The social justice movement relies on two key components: victimhood and identity politics.

Politicians tend not to let the truth, the facts, or reality stand in the way of a good narrative.

Politicians are predictably pathetic and pathetically predictable.

If you want black lives to matter, then black dads matter.

Disney Imagineers and Democrat Reimagineers. Fantasy Land at its best.

The left, the Mainstream Media, and never-Trumpers hate this president so much, that they’ve even attempted to try and force reality to bend to their will. Good luck with that!!

The ABC’s of legislative procedures in Congress: Arcane, Byzantine, and Cumbersome.

Time for congress to learn their ABC’s on Ukraine: Archer, Berkowitz, and Chalupa.

A public service message from the political Left: You have questioned our authority. You have deviated from our orthodoxy. You have failed to comply with our wishes. You will be canceled!

The Left’s answer to inequality? Institutionally mandated mediocrity.

Humanity has made more advances via incremental progress than the sum of all the quantum leaps, paradigm sifts and seminal events that have occurred throughout human history. 

Cancel culture is nothing more than a bunch of petty, small minded folks who subscribe to a zero-defect mentality, except when comes to themselves.

Sheep are there to be shorn and when it comes to politics and ideological struggles, there are three distinct groups of these critters: true believers, useful idiots, and gullible rubes.

If you put the fox in charge of the henhouse, expect more chicken dishes to show up on the menu.

Woke is to politically correct, as hubris is to arrogance. 

 My political leanings do not determine or define my humanity.

The Democrats and their not so deep well: Gimmickry, victimology, identity politics.

 Are Macedonian content farmers like Elbonian Software code writers from the Dilbert comic strip?

Critical Race Theory and the other offshoots of Critical Theory, serve no beneficial purpose for any reasonable individual engaged in such endeavors. But then again, how many of these folks are acting in a reasonable manner?

Welcome to California, proving ground for bad ideas.

History usually winds up outliving everyone.

Bipartisanship in the Swamp is bipartisanship for all the wrong reasons.

Medical advice is best dispensed by medical experts. When they turn out to be nothing more than political opportunists, then it’s time to move on.

A disease that becomes endemic in a population negates one's ability to peddle fear. A disease that remains a pandemic, on the other hand, makes it easier to do so.

Socialist utopia = American dystopia. Any questions?

 Risk Taking courtesy of John Paul Jones and William Shakespeare:

  1. He who will not risk cannot win.
  2. Discretion is the better part of valor.
  3. When a conflict arises between the two previous rules, refer to rule number 2.

The Rules of 2.

2 many people were promised 2 much, worse yet, it was all 2 good 2 be true.

2 many people with 2 many friends in high places have been screwing us over for far 2 long.

Three questions that should be part of everyone’s decision making tree:

  1. Is it realistic?
  2. Is it reasonable?
  3. Is it prudent?

Calling all visionaries:

1.      What is your vision?

2.      How do you plan on enacting/executing it?

3.      Can you justify/defend it?

Time for Americans to hit the Road

Responsibility

Obligations

Accountability

Dedication

The TRUTH shall set you free

Totally

Realistic

Unbiased

Talk

Here

 

Oxymorons

Moderate liberalism, compassionate conservatism, military intelligence, the work of government, conventional wisdom, an honest snake oil salesman, old bold pilots, mediocrity at its best.

 

XYZ (politically incorrect)

For some of our elected or appointed officials and celebrities, peccadilloes are more like peckerdilloes.

I suffer from a reptile dysfunction. My trouser snake ain’t working right.

There are going to be some folks who are so clueless and inept that they couldn’t find their rear-ends if you had them place both hands on the small of their backs and then told them to work their way down.

Take the knots out of your knickers and just chillax!

More governmental alphabet soup: FBI, NSA, DIA, CIA, CYA.

Sequestration was the budgetary equivalent of playing chicken. Only, no one blinked.

Calling D.C. the “Swamp”, is an insult to bayous, bogs, marshes, and moors everywhere.

XX vs XY, chromosomes don’t lie.

Going Green: When the sun won’t shine and the wind won’t blow, where they’ll get their power from, they don't know.

 

Polar Opposites

Tolerance, love, understanding, redemption, and forgiveness. Basic tenets of most religious teachings. All of these things lead to the acceptance of others.

Intolerance, hate, retribution, ignorance, and fear. Basic tenets of radical ideologies. All of these things lead to the denigration and denial of others.

 

Evil is:

Unabashedly remorseless and without shame.

Relentless in its efforts to suppress the truth, the facts, and reality.

Recalcitrant and completely bereft of humility.

Willing to sacrifice all that we hold dear for its own ambitions or agenda, and cares nothing about the rest of us.

Cruel and controlling.

Swampy behavior.

 

Notables and their Quotables


Nikita Khrushchev Says (courtesy of The Glasnost Tapes)               

Foreign troops on any country’s soil are not a gift from God, but a necessity of war.

Who ever has any extra money to spend on defense?  I say, no one, that’s who. It’s something you are forced into.

James A. Michener 1995

War is war, and if you are unlucky enough to become engaged in one, you better not lose it.

F.A. Hayek

From the saintly and single-minded idealist to the fanatic is often but a step.

Rule of Law vs Arbitrary Gov’t. By giving government unlimited powers, the most arbitrary rule can be made legal, and in this way a democracy may set up the most complete despotism imaginable.

Ron Paul:

When government grows, liberty suffers. This happens no matter what justification is given for the government programs financed.

As the iron fist grows in size….we will see a transformation of America that spells the end of a grand experiment in human liberty.

Ken Blackwell

We have become a culture where earning money doesn’t entitle you to it, but wanting it does. That is the essence of redistribution.

Glenn Beck

Our problem in our country is not money and rich people. Our problem in our country is greed and loss of perspective…. each man has to police himself and each man or woman makes the decision for themselves.

Samuel Langdon (1788)

On the people, therefore, of these United States, it depends whether wise men, or fools, good or bad men, shall govern them. Whether they shall have righteous laws, a faithful administration of government, and permanent good order, peace, and liberty, or on the contrary, feel insupportable burdens and see all their affairs run into confusion and ruin. 

Frank J Fleming 2012

Having politicians fix problems is like having a three-year-old fix your computer with a hammer.

From Impeached: The Trial of President Andrew Johnson and the Fight for Lincoln’s Legacy by David O. Stewart

Carl Shurz 1865:

Nothing renders society more restless than….a revolution but half accomplished.

Congressman Thaddeus Stevens 1868:

If you and your compeers can fling away ambition and realize that every human being, however lowly-born or degraded by fortune, is your equal, that every inalienable right which belongs to you belongs to him, truth and righteousness will spread over the land…

The unmaking of Americans: how multiculturalism has undermined the assimilation ethic by John J. Miller

Woodrow Wilson on Immigration and Assimilation:

You cannot dedicate yourself to America unless you become in every respect and with every purpose of your will, thorough Americans. You cannot become thorough Americans if you think of yourselves in groups. A man who thinks of himself as belonging to a particular national group in America has not yet become an American, and the man who goes among you to trade upon your nationality is no worthy son to live under the Stars and Stripes.

RADM Charles A. Rainey 2012

It’s the organization, not the individual or the personality, that is enduring.

Sen Daniel P. Moynihan

Wait a minute. You are entitled to your own opinion. You are not entitled to your own facts.

John Lennon

Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans.

Rep Louie Gomert

Money can’t buy happiness, but it does make misery more tenable.

Lynette “Silk” Hardaway

I can’t be politically correct when I’m telling the truth.

Mike “Dirty Jobs” Rowe

If you want to make America great again, you have to make work cool again.

Congressman Jody Hice

It’s easier to pass a kidney stone in the Senate than it is to pass a piece of legislation.

Elizabeth “E-Mac” MacDonald, FBN

You would have better luck getting a cracker out of an alligator’s mouth than getting our tax dollars back from a Mondale tax and spend Democrat.

I trust half priced sushi sold by a gas station more than I trust today’s Democrats.

Larry Winget

Smoky the Bear was a historical figure. Just because you find a bear scary, doesn’t mean you turn him into Smoky the Bunny Rabbit.

Elanor Roosevelt

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.

(likewise, you can’t get taken advantage of)

Senator Kamala Harris

Let’s take a moment to celebrate that we are a nation that was formed on noble ideas… 

Women have been given the responsibility to perpetuate the human species. Our bodies were created to do that.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel

Only when we understand the past, can we build a good future.

Shelby Steele

It’s not about what your identity gives you, it’s about what you give your identity.

Degan McDowell, FBN

Toilet paper may be in short supply, but sanctimony and arrogance aren’t. Too bad we can’t wipe our asses with them. 

If you call me white trash to my face, you’re taking a pavement nap in front of the Tastee-Freez.

Larry Elder

My solution to saving California? Keep the illegal aliens, deport the Democrats.

“Neon” Deion Sanders, FS1

We’re gonna be alright baby. I promise you that!

Capt Doug Pedersen, USN Ret

In combat, second best is dead last.

Coach Rex Ryan

This guy’s so bad, he couldn’t play dead in a “B” western!

Senator John Kennedy, LA

Let me apologize in advance for any mean, ugly, accurate things I’m about to say.

Criminals obey gun laws like politicians keep promises.

Christmas ornaments, drywall and Jeffrey Epstein. Three things that don’t hang themselves.

If you believe in defunding the police, then obviously, you’ve tested positive for stupid.

If you believe that the border is closed, then you believe in the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, and that Jimmy Hoffa died of natural causes.

Illegal immigration is…illegal. Duh!

The difference between people and dogs is that dogs don’t let the weakest and dumbest lead the pack.

The Biden people never make the same mistake twice. They make is five or six times just to make sure.

Ken Langone, co-founder Home Depot

Take a look at this guy Schiff. I don’t know if he’s rich or not, but he’d starve to death if he had to make a living in the private sector.

The mother of Marvel Comics editor Sana Amant

Know your identity, yet appreciate others.

Vivek Ramaswamy, Founder and CEO of Roivant Sciences

Complexity favors the well connected.

 If it’s state action in disguise, then the Constitution still applies.

Musician Billy Joel

I’m a statistic in a system that a civil servant dominates.

We didn’t start the fire. It was always burning since the world’s been turning… and when we are gone, it will still burn on and on.

Ben Domenech, Co-founder of the Federalist

Consider the possibility that we are led by idiots.

Fox News personality Greg Gutfeld 

Americans do not need lectures from hypocrites in hair and makeup who pick and choose their favorite protesters.

The thing about systemic racism is that Joe Biden has been in office since 1970. He is the system.

Joe Biden has become such a lame duck, he should avoid Dick Cheney.

Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett

Life is hard, but at least it’s short. What greater thing can you do besides raise children?

Civil rights lawyer Leo Terrell on leaving the Democrat party

I had to escape the asylum. I had to get away, and I’m never going back.

Dr. Ben Carson, former HUD Secretary

The majority of housing discrimination cases had nothing to do with race. They had to do with disabilities.

Rep Byron Donalds, FL

Private prisons in Florida actually teach trades to inmates. Not so in state run facilities.

Prof Art Laffer on the American Petroleum Institute’s support for a carbon tax

The chickens shouldn’t vote for Colonel Sanders.

Art Del Cueto, National Border Patrol Council Official

Illegal is not a race.

Larry Kudlow, former Trump official an FBN personality

Former Democrats make the best Republicans.

Prof Alan Dershowitz

The Democrat’s impeachment charge gets a C minus, with grade inflation.

Heard around the water cooler

At this company, individual initiative cannot overcome systemic deficiencies. Any attempt to do so will be considered a good deed and punished accordingly.

Michael Jackson (Billie Jean)

And be careful what you do, ‘cause the lie becomes the truth.

Comedian Terrence K. Williams

Evidently, firefighters are all racists, because they’re against arson.

Former President Gerald Ford

A government big enough to give you everything you want, is a government big enough to take from you everything you have.

Dr. Brett Giroir, former assistant HHS Secretary

In the Trump administration, science drove the Policy. What I'm seeing right now is that policy is driving the science, and that is very dangerous.

 Rocker Ted Nugent

If you're not pissing off the assholes, then you might be an asshole.

Comedian Joe DeVito

Biden’s leadership ability is so bad, he couldn’t lead Andrew Cuomo to ladies’ night.

Senator Wallace F. Bennett (1964)

It is an age-old Washington axiom that there is nothing so permanent as a temporary government program.

Friedrich Nietzsche

Be careful when fighting monsters that you do not become a monster yourself.

Steve Hilton, The Next revolution

Merrick Garland, once put forward for the Supreme Court, wouldn’t recognize equal justice under the law if the words fell off the building and landed on his head.

Dr. Vivek Murthy, U.S. Surgeon General

We can have the best science available. We can have the best public health service available. It won’t help people if they don’t have access to accurate information.

This is not just about what the government can do, this is about companies and individuals recognizing that the only way to get past misinformation is if we are careful about what we say and use that power that we have to limit the spread of misinformation.

Political strategist Paul Begala.

I think the problem with Democrats right now is not that they have bad leaders, they have bad followers!

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

“Settled science” is an oxymoron. The admonishment that we should “trust the experts” is a trope of authoritarianism.

Author Michael Crichton

There is no such thing as consensus science. If it’s consensus, it isn’t science. If it’s science, it isn’t consensus. Period!

Podcaster and conservative personality Rob Smith

I’m an active homosexual and decorative pillows are a little gay for me.

Larry Lawton, former jewel thief

Three can keep a secret if two are dead.