Trailer: Runaway Slave

Wow. Just Wow. Count me first in line to see it. H/T AoSHQ.

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Memorial Day 2010

Do you think you know the price of freedom?

And why are you squandering what these people have bought you with their blood like a spoiled and ungrateful child?

(From QandO)

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In Which George Will Becomes Glenn Beck

George Will starts by sounding suspiciously like Glenn Beck:

WASHINGTON -- Only two things are infinite -- the expanding universe and Democrats' hostility to the District of Columbia's school choice program. Killing this small program, which currently benefits 1,300 mostly poor and minority children, is odious and indicative. It is a small piece of something large -- the Democrats' dependency agenda, which aims to multiply the ways Americans are dependent on government.

And ends by nearly making Glenn look tame:

Many Democrats, opposing the Supreme Court, advocate new campaign finance "reforms" that will further empower government to regulate the quantity, timing and content of speech about government. Otherwise voters will hear more such speech than government considers good for them. Such paternalism is American progressivism's oldest tradition.

A century ago, Herbert Croly published "The Promise of American Life," a book -- still in print -- that was prophetic about today's progressives. Contemplating with distaste America's "unregenerate citizens," he said "the average American individual is morally and intellectually inadequate to a serious and consistent conception of his responsibilities." Therefore, Croly said, national life should be a "school" taught by the government: "The exigencies of such schooling frequently demand severe coercive measures, but what schooling does not?" Unregenerate Americans would be "saved many costly perversions" if "the official schoolmasters are wise, and the pupils neither truant nor insubordinate."

Subordination is dependency seen from above. Today, it is seen approvingly by progressives imposing, from above, their dependency agenda.

There is no school choice here; no voucher will enable Americans to escape from enveloping dependency on this "government as school." The dependency agenda is progressive education for children of all ages, meaning all ages treated as children.

Wow. It's a RTWT. Run, don't walk.

UPDATE: And here's the CPAC edition:

WTWT. Part 2 Part 3 And his trademark dry wit is on full display. What happened? It's almost like we don't need Glenn Beck anymore to keep things honest.

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An Open Letter to Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity

Dear Mr. Beck and Mr. Hannity,

Let me start by saying “Thank You!” for being the great Americans that you are. You are getting the word out about all of the horrible and truly un-Constitutional things that this current administration and our Congress are doing to We The People. You have been instrumental in exposing the corruption in our government and the questionable character of the people our current President has surrounded himself with. I think you two have spearheaded some very profound pro-liberty initiatives that have made a difference in waking us up and getting us mobilized in the important cause of freedom.

Glenn: Your 9.12 Project is probably one of the single biggest reasons why many of us have finally woken up and have started pounding on the doors of our representation, filling up their email in-boxes by writing them letters, burning up their phone lines by calling them, and adamantly opposing these enormous and destructive health care, cap & trade, and other bills. Not that they are listening to us. Like many in the 9.12 Project and the Tea Parties, I have never done this kind of thing before – but I’m doing it now! My wife and I have both been heavily involved in our local 9.12 group – and we are so thankful, because we have met so many new and wonderful friends who feel just as we do; we are all fed-up, tired, and outraged by government shenanigans. My wife and I have your books and have embraced your common sense way of explaining what is “really” going on in our country. Arguing with idiots is no longer a challenge – we have been armed with some good information.

Sean: Your Freedom Concerts are just one example of how you are making a huge, positive difference in the lives of those who serve our country. Your great, great, great American Panel has been instrumental in illustrating the ranting of liberal, misinformed progressives who only want to destroy our country. I listen to you on our local Fox radio affiliate every day on the way home from work. You have given me many ideas for my blog articles and activities. Your logic has given me so much fuel for my arguments against those who just don’t get it.

Now for the hard part: I am a federal employee, which is primarily why I am writing this letter to you guys. It seems that recently, you have been making statements on your shows alluding to the notion that ALL of us in the federal government are over-paid tax cheats. I will not deny that there are certainly those in the federal government who are guilty of those things – and probably worse! But I have to be honest: In recent weeks, I have listened to your radio programs and watched your shows on Fox (as I always do) and I have come away feeling very hurt sometimes.

To give you a sense of why blanket statements painting ALL federal employees as over-paid tax cheats hurts me so deeply, let me tell you a little about myself and the people I work with in my particular agency:

• After serving a 20-year career in the U.S. Navy, I went on to become a teacher in the State of South Dakota – the state that ranks dead last in teacher pay, then accepted a job back in my home state of Colorado in a federal agency. I did so because I saw this as another opportunity to serve my country. My entire life, I have known nothing but service to others, as evidenced by my employment choices over the past 33 years.

• I believe in small government, waaaay smaller government spending, free enterprise, and the U.S. Constitution. I believe deeply in every single one the 9 principles and 12 values on which the 9.12 Project is based. My wife and I believe in God, and he is the center of our lives (sound familiar?). My spouse and I believe that America is great, that the American people are the true source of innovation in this country, and that the government does NOT create wealth, provide jobs, or has any business doing the things they are doing to us right now.

• As a federal employee, I took the same oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States that I did when I served in the military. This is an oath I have never taken lightly. Even when I left the military, and before entering federal service, I continued to believe that my obligation to that oath never expired.

• I carry around a copy of the U.S. Constitution in my back pocket. My worn, torn, and faded copy is a testament to how many times I have taken it out to look something up or to explain to someone why I think something this current administration is doing is unconstitutional. I have even been ridiculed for carrying it around, but I stand firm in my resolve to stand by that sacred document.

• On one hand, my President refers to me as a “bitter clinger” who clings to my Bible and my guns, and a ”tea bagger” for my participation in tea parties. Our Secretary of Homeland Security calls me a terrorist because I am former military, a gun owner, and a tea party participant. Then the House Speaker calls me a “tea bagger” and “astro-turf” because of my participation in the same. But on the other hand, I am an over-paid, tax cheat in the minds of the very people whom I support simply because I am a federal employee.

• There are many (many, many…) of my co-workers who come to work every day, do their best, and openly speak their mind about their feelings against an administration that is out of control. These people do everything in their power to spend tax payer money wisely, and we speak up when we see waste.

• My agency employs veterinarians, biologists, and scientists of all types, all of whom could probably be earning more money in private practice. But they chose their current federal employment, in many cases, because they felt called to a higher purpose of servicing our country.

• The employees in my building participate in annual charity drives, help out in our local schools, and give our time and talents to non-profit organizations that help others. Our current “boss” didn’t mandate that we do those things. We have been doing them since long before the anointed one came along, and will continue to do them long after he and his freedom-hating Congress has been booted out of office.

Sirs: I would think that rather than painting all of us who are federal employees as over-paid tax cheats, that maybe you would look for the good inside the walls of our federal government wherever you can find it, and do your best to illustrate instances of good employees who do the right thing. After all, we even have people in Congress who are true patriots, and are fighting from within to further the cause of liberty. Michele Bachman, Dr. Ron Paul, John Thune, John Boehner, and many others are on the inside, and are indeed on our side. Believe it or not, there are great numbers of federal employees who are on our side as well. The American people, I would hope, should thank the Lord that there are indeed people on the inside of our government who do the right thing, actively campaign against an out of control administration, and are active members of Tea Parties and 9.12 projects to bring about the true change that we need in 2010 and beyond.

All I am saying is that I just want, for myself, my coworkers, and my fellow patriots who are on the inside, a little consideration for the fact that many of us do the right thing, we are adamantly passionate about the values and principles that our forefathers used to found this great country, we oppose the current administration’s tactics, and we know full well that by doing so our very jobs could be in danger. And unless your listeners hear different, we will be in physical danger from the over-zealous (yes – the over-zealous are part of BOTH sides) who hang on your every word, and decide to take matters into their own hands and get revenge on more of us. I think back and tremble at a story from the not so distantly past news where a federal employee was attacked and killed. The word “FED” was written across his chest. I would hate to think that blanket statements about federal employees all being bad people was responsible for this type of brutality. Instead, I would prefer that all of our fellow Americans know the truth: That there are good patriots among the ranks of federal employees, and we are standing shoulder to shoulder with our brothers and sisters in private life in their fight for liberty and freedom.

I will continue to support you guys, listen to your radio programs, and watch your shows on Fox. I and my wife patronize your sponsors, and will continue to do so. My spouse and I will continue to be actively involved in our 9.12 Project and the tea parties. Please don’t hate all federal employees, and please even maybe make some mention of the fact that there are indeed those on the “inside” of the federal government who are good people and will continue to fight for the causes of liberty and freedom.

Thank you for listening to this regular guy who, like Glenn, just loves his country and fears for it. God bless you both for getting the word out and waking us up. I pray for you and thank God for you every day. Just as you have done, I pledge my life, my fortune, and my sacred honor to the fight for liberty and freedom.

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Iranian Protestors Taunt Obamao

They are saying: "Obama, Obama, Are you with the regime or with us?"

Unfortunately, we all know the answer to that question.

So this is verboten to show on U.S. television, isn't it?

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The Return Of Thomas Paine

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Happy 4th Of July ... And We Stand With The Iranian People

I have a long list of grievances with McCain but he usually gets it right in defense of liberty. And he has done so here. Start watching at the 3:00 mark if you're short on time.

And then go read Ray Harvey's post on what happened to those "privileged white men" to whom we owe so much. How's that brainwashing been working out for you? Electing a president who supports tyranny both abroad and now ever increasingly at home? You think you won't end up like this. But you're wrong. And sheep who call themselves people have always been on the wrong side of history.

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No End To The Tyranny Of The Lukewarm Lunacy

UPDATE: Check out Ledeen today for the latest developments. Some slivers of hope in a very depressing situation.

Neda.
Not only is there no end to tyranny but there is no end to O Duce's stupid, self-righteous kow-towing to tyrants. Even the NYeT are not complete idiots like O Duce is on what's really going on:

Women were particular targets after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad began to strictly enforce previously loosened restrictions. Thousands of women were arrested or intimidated because they did not adhere precisely to Islamic dress code on the streets.

Mir Hussein Moussavi, the leading opposition candidate, campaigned along with his wife, Zahra Rahnavard, and other prominent Iranian women rallied to his side as he promised to improve the status of women.

A woman called Hana posted a comment on Mr. Karroubi’s Web site: “I am alive but my sister was killed. She wanted the wind to blow into her hair; she wanted to be free; she wanted to hold her head high up and say: I am Iranian. My sister died because there is no life left; my sister died because there is no end to tyranny.”

Via Hitchens who is absolutely on fire today (go read it now, I'll wait), we now have Obama playing the role of the white moderate:

We should never forget that everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was "legal" and everything the Hungarian freedom fighters did in Hungary was "illegal." It was "illegal" to aid and comfort a Jew in Hitler's Germany. Even so, I am sure that, had I lived in Germany at the time, I would have aided and comforted my Jewish brothers. If today I lived in a Communist country where certain principles dear to the Christian faith are suppressed, I would openly advocate disobeying that country's antireligious laws.

I must make two honest confessions to you, my Christian and Jewish brothers. First, I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a "more convenient season." Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.

What a sorry narcissistic disaster O Duce is. Wait for a more convenient season indeed.

O Duce: How can a regime possibly be legitimate that treats their own people -- most especially women -- like cattle, beats and shoots them mercilessly and then won't even let the dead be buried properly? I don't care if you're an athiest or whatever it is you are. You live on a lukewarm lake of LaLa land lunacy.

And in case you didn't read the NYeT piece, check this out about Neda:

She studied philosophy and took underground singing lessons — women are barred from singing publicly in Iran.

You read that right. Women are barred from singing publicly in Iran.

Yes of course. These mullahs are perfectly sane. Let's negotiate. By all means. Did you read Hitchens?

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Two Of A Kind?

Well it looks like O Duce will get his head handed to him on a platter for craven totalitarian cow-towing before this is all over. Check out the following from Ledeen's blog:

I’ve received what purports to be a statement from Mousavi’s Office in Tehran. Like everyone else covering the revolution, I get a lot of material that can’t be authenticated, and one must always take such material with a healthy dose of skepticism. That said, the person who sent this to me is undoubtedly in touch with the Mousavi people on the ground, that much is certain. His information has been proven reliable throughout this period. So while the following open letter carefully puts distance between the author(s) and Mousavi himself, I am quite sure that at a minimum it accurately reflects the state of mind of the Mousavi people.

So here you go:

From the Office of Mr. Mir Hossein Mousavi

To the President of the USA, Mr. Barack Hussein Obama:

Dear Mr. President,

In the name of the Iranian people, we want you to know that when you recently made the statement “Achmadinejad or Mousavi? Two of a kind,” we consider this as a grave and deep insult, not just to Mr. Mousavi but especially against the judgment of the Iranian people, against our moral conviction and intelligence, especially those of the young generation that comprises a population of 31 million.

It is a specially grave insult for those who are now fighting for democracy and freedom, and an unwarranted gift and even praise for Mr. Khamenei, whose security forces are now killing peaceful Iranians in the streets of every major city in the country.

Your statement misled the people of the world. It was no doubt inspired by your hope for dialogue with this regime, but you cannot possibly believe in promises from a regime that lies to its own people and then kills them when they demand the promises be kept.

By such statements, your administration and you discourage the Iranian people, who believe and trust in the values of democracy and freedom. We are pleased to see that you have condemned the regime’s murderous violence, and we look forward to stronger support for the rightful struggle of the Iranian people against the actions of a regime that is your enemy as well as ours.

UPDATE: From Mousavi’s speech on Sunday:

The great participation in this election was, in the first degree, indebted to the efforts for creating hope and trust among the people, to obtain a befitting response to the existing administrative crises and the widespread social dissatisfaction, whose accumulation can target the bedrock of the Revolution and the Regime. If this good faith and trust coming from the people is not answered by protecting their votes, or the people can not react in a civil and peaceful way to defend their rights, there will be dangerous pathways ahead, responsibility for which lies with those who can’t stand peaceful behaviors.

If the high volume of cheating and vote manipulation, that has put a fire to the foundations of people’s trust, is itself introduced as the proof and evidence of the lack of fraud, the republicanism of the regime will be slaughtered and the idea of incompatibility of Islam and republicanism would be practically proven.

UPDATE II: Mousavi has called for a general strike on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the regime is now rounding up Rafsanjani family members. As Banafsheh Zand-Bonazzi tells us:

Tabnak Website from Iran reports: Five members of the Rafsanjani family arrested. It is said that his daughter Faezeh who is very outspoken and has been very active in politics for more than two decades has also been arrested. Reportedy Faezeh, her daughter,Hossein Marashi (cousin of Mrs. Rafsanjani nee Effat Marashi), Marashi’s daughter and Marashi’s sister-in-law have been taken into custody as well

Update III: From Judith Klinghoffer, the unions are joining the revolution.

I can tell you who are two of a kind: O Duce and the Mullahs. And throw in his craven bow to the Saudi King for good measure.

And what's even more lunatic is that I find myself in the position of supporting protesters who have socialistic planks in their platform while O Duce won't:

But, of course compared to the Fascist Mullahs the protesters are almost laissez-faire. What they're complaining about is that the Mullahs are in fact a Fascist, corporatist state that keeps all the oil revenue cream for itself. No wonder O Duce loves the Mullahs, that's exactly what he's so busily creating in America.

I'll be considerate and avoid the picture of the consequences of O Duce's support for misogynistic, pimple-faced violent thugs. But you can go look if you have a strong stomach. Her name was Neda.

Oh, and in case you think O Duce is alone in this position among his coalition, you might want to check out the home page of NOW. If you've been following developments and watching video (such as the one above for instance) you can't help but notice that Iranian women have been key victims of the Mullahs as well as leaders among the protesters. But not a peep of support by NOW anywhere to be found. What a sad disgrace.

UPDATE: More must reading here.

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Green

Support the Tehran "Tea Party"!

UPDATE: The Manifesto:

1. Remove Khamenei from supreme leader because he doesn't qualify as a fair supreme leader

2. Remove Ahmadinejad from president because he took it forcefully and unlawfully

3. Put Ayatollah Montazeri as supreme leader until a review group for the ghanooneh asasi ( "constitution" ) is set up

4. Recognize Mousavi as the official president

5. A goverment by Mousavi and start a reform of the constitution

6. Free all political prisoners without any ifs ands or buts, right away

7. Call off any secret organization such as "gasht ershad"

UPDATED AGAIN: Good stuff from Ledeen:

There are reports of members of the Revolutionary Guards defecting to the dissidents. There is this report from an Iranian website (the only place i’ve seen it) according to which 16 senior Revolutionary Guards officials have been arrested:

“These commanders have been in contact with members of the Iranian army to join the people’s movement. Three of the commanders are veterans of Iran-Iraq war. They have been moved to an undisclosed location in East Tehran.”

If true, it’s very important, but, as I have often noted, the regime has distrusted them for some time. The young Islamic revolutionaries of the late 1970s are now middle aged, and do not wish to slaughter their neighbors. That is why the mullahs have imported killers from abroad: the five thousand or so Hezbollahis who, according to Der Spiegel, have been brought in from Lebanon and Syria. Dissidents on Twitter report clashes with security forces who do not speak Farsi, and there are even some rumors suggesting that Chavez has sent some of his toughs from Venezuela. Who knows?

Pray for them.

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Huxley's Dictatorship O The Now

I'm betting you've never seen this interview with Aldous Huxley. If you ever needed a wake-up call to turn off American Idol and start paying closer attention to your world, this is it. You should not only watch the whole thing but follow the YouTube links to watch the other two segments of the interview.

Then you need to put it together with this choice little bit from David Ramsey Steele's "The Mystery Of Fascism":

The leadership theme was reinforced by the theoretical writings of, Mosca, Pareto, and Michels, especially Pareto's theory of the Circulation of Elites. All these arguments emphasized the vital role of active minorities and the futility of expecting that the masses would ever, left to themselves, accomplish anything. Further corroboration came from Le Bon's sensational best-seller of 1895--it would remain perpetually in print in a dozen languages--The Psychology of Crowds, which analyzed the "irrational" behavior of humans in groups and drew attention to the group's proclivity to place itself in the hands of a strong leader, who could control the group as long as he appealed to certain primitive or basic beliefs. (30)

The initiators of Fascism saw anti-rationalism as high-tech. It went with their fast cars and airplanes. Fascist anti-rationalism, like psychoanalysis, conceives of itself as a practical science which can channel elemental human drives in a useful direction.

O Ooof. Useful direction for whom? Raise your hand if you think your fellow citizens have been sheared like sheep.

But I digress ... What is the latest with Britney Spears today? And is Michelle still lifting weights?

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A Tom Woods Must See On Book TV

Tom Woods was recently on Book TV giving a 40ish minute talk on his new book "Meltdown". Somewhat updated from the recent link I posted of his interview on Financial Sense -- although you should listen to that one too.

I can't recommend strongly enough that you click over and watch it. If you pay only even moderate attention, you'll come away understanding why F.A. Hayek won the Nobel Prize for economics back in 1974 and why it couldn't be more relevant to properly resolving the current disaster.

And if you want a real education, you might click over to Hayek's Nobel lecture on what he called "Scientism": "The Pretense of Knowledge". Yes, it turns out that an eminent academic actually understands the insanity of his fellows. Here's a taste:

The theory which has been guiding monetary and financial policy during the last thirty years, and which I contend is largely the product of such a mistaken conception of the proper scientific procedure, consists in the assertion that there exists a simple positive correlation between total employment and the size of the aggregate demand for goods and services; it leads to the belief that we can permanently assure full employment by maintaining total money expenditure at an appropriate level. Among the various theories advanced to account for extensive unemployment, this is probably the only one in support of which strong quantitative evidence can be adduced. I nevertheless regard it as fundamentally false, and to act upon it, as we now experience, as very harmful.

This brings me to the crucial issue. Unlike the position that exists in the physical sciences, in economics and other disciplines that deal with essentially complex phenomena, the aspects of the events to be accounted for about which we can get quantitative data are necessarily limited and may not include the important ones.

1974. Oh, and Hayek was of the Austrian school of Economics -- one of the founders actually. And not only did the Austrians predict the current crises, but the Great Depression also.

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Unlike Our CinC, Rudy Knows What Memorial Day Is All About...

And has created a fitting tribute to remind all of us.

Thank you Rudy.

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Remember

Please take a moment this Memorial Day to remember those who have fallen that you may be free.

As you may have noticed lately, perhaps you may find a voice inside of you nagging that perhaps you too may need to make some difficult choices to keep the -- now rapidly diminishing -- freedoms that you have.

We need to start listening to those voices -- and acting upon them in a principled way -- before it's too late.

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Run Over To Ray's! (Bumped)

Check out Raymond Harvey's new "Tea Party Of Northern Colorado" site including his blog. Remember this recent post by Ray on "Oil Shortages And Government Intervention"? Look for more head-shaking wisdom at his new site! Go Ray!

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With Thunderous Appalause…

Remember this?

The Emperor in his speech to the Senate: "In order to ensure our security and continuing stability, the Republic will be reorganized into the first Galactic Empire, for a safe and secure society which I assure you will last for ten thousand years."

(Next you hear thunderous applause from the gallery...)

Senator Padmé comments: "So this is how liberty dies... with thunderous applause."

from Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith

And so this is how our country is going to destroy itself. Our administration wants to “REMAKE” America, when what we need is to RESTORE America. Our smooth-talking, teleprompter reliant President will feed us whatever his writers have been fed by those who are really in control. Soros, Pelosi, Reid, et al. He will assure us safety, when in fact what he desires is control in the biggest power-grab known to mankind. And it will all be done because an asleep citizen body of this country is lapping up every word from the anointed one as if it were gospel, and he were the messiah.

Wake up America! We are going down a path that I assure you we don’t want to go.

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Can We Have The Robber Barons Back?

Well, if there really were any.

No quotarian diversion would be worth its salt without C.S. Lewis:

"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." -- C.S. Lewis

He saw it coming, no?

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Freedom Has Failed? Really?

Before I drift off the quotes track:

"One of the methods used by statists to destroy capitalism consists in establishing controls that tie a given industry hand and foot, making it unable to solve its problems, then declaring that freedom has failed and stronger controls are necessary." —Ayn Rand, 1975

These words were written more than 30 years ago, but they apply exactly to today’s financial crisis. Today’s problems are the result of a government-controlled financial and housing system that rewarded irrational behavior and punished responsible behavior. Yet they are being blamed on “the free market”—with more controls offered as the solution.

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QOTD: "Practical Politics"

If you didn't take the time to watch "Cry Freedom" then at least you don't want to miss this Mencken quote from one of the featured signs:

"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins." -- H.L. Mencken

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Did I Forget To Mention...

Katrina Pierson for President? Finally a solution to the British President dilemma ;) My deepest apologies for not posting her here sooner. An authentic speaker wielding Jefferson quotes. It doesn't get much better than that.

I'm also reminded of the comments of President Kennedy at a gathering of Nobel Laureates at the White House. He said that there hadn't been so much brainpower gathered there since Thomas Jefferson dined alone ;)

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