Time to Break Out the Tar & Feathers

Right wing pundits are fond of saying that B Hussein means no harm, but is simply mistaken in his economics and his ability to govern.

They're wrong.

Obama has no moral compass--or at least his moral compass' magnetism has gone away by means of his having mentors who have no regard for individual rights and property. He has assumed the posture of a sort of demigod-king who believes that the Constitution is a pain in the ass he has to sidestep, Congress is his tool, and the people of the united States and the world are serfs who must be controlled and protected. Mostly controlled.

The conservatives, having very shaky moral compasses themselves, are wrong. Most of them don't want to be too severe in their criticism because any one of them might find himself in the driver's seat himself, one day. Also, conservatives in office are mostly spineless oafs being led by the rings in their noses by the leftists.

B Hussein Obama is systematically and deliberately trying to destroy America.

B Hussein Obama is taking the (admittedly very flawed) American capitalist system apart. He's destroying individuals' ability to be productive with ever higher taxes, ever increasing regulation and by placing industry deeply in debt to government in order to be able to exert even more control over it. When it happened in Germany, we called it Nazism. We can't call it that though, because Obama isn't killing people. Yet.

He is, though, beginning to scapegoat. Scapegoating is the act of demonizing a segment of society by way of blaming that group for the nation's ills. By referring to the Tea Party demonstrators as racists and potential terrorists, he's beginning to set up the machinery. By sending up trial balloons, using university stooges to abridge free speech, he's undermining the 1st Amendment. By borrowing and spending (wasting) trillions of dollars he's deliberately placing the country in the position of being in a financial hole from which it can never escape. These are steps toward a goal that bodes nothing but ill for us all.

Obama's policies will reduce the united States to the level of a second-rate or a third-rate country, financially, and they will reduce Americans to the level of wards of the state.

Advocates of freedom vary as to what might stop this treason. Some would like their own state to secede and return to being an independent State. This would be wonderful if the new State doesn't become a little dictatorship of its own. The citizens of this state will need to guard against making the same mistakes made by the US federal government. They'll have to commit themselves to laissez-faire capitalism and an absolute right to life, liberty and property, and strict adherence to the Non Aggression Principle by government as well as by each individual.

Meanwhile, many individuals are retiring early or just quitting (shrugging) to avoid feeding the monster in Mordor DC. I find this appealing, and happen to be setting myself up for retirement very soon--this in spite of the fact that I love productive work. It's hard to quit, but perhaps a small sandwich shop in Carson City isn't the worst way to retire.

While we all can agree that paying taxes is just an enabling mechanism, and should be avoided, no one wants to spend their valuable time in government shackles.

Whatever is to your taste, and whatever your genius can devise, find a way to stop feeding the monster, and simultaneously stay out of the line of fire. Best of luck!

Remember: VOTE FOR NO INCUMBENT!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Reasons To Fear B Hussein Obama

I guess I stepped away from politics for a while, out of utter disgust for the speed with which the once free United States are being thrust into collectivism by one one would be dictator after another. Not only is the slope slippery, but it's getting steeper, fast!

The Patriot Depot, from whom I bought a couple of Gadsden-style car window flags, has brought a well-written letter to my attention. It's an open letter to B Hussein from Lou Pritchett, a former vice president at Proctor & Gamble. The letter pretty well captures many of my thoughts about the most dumbed down national election in US history, and the absolutely hideous results thereof. Have your blood pressure medicine handy while you read it.

Dear President Obama:

You are the thirteenth President under whom I have lived and unlike any of the others, you truly scare me.

You scare me because after months of exposure, I know nothing about you.

You scare me because I do not know how you paid for your expensive Ivy League education and your upscale lifestyle and housing with no visible signs of support.

You scare me because you did not spend the formative years of youth growing up in America, and culturally you are not an American.

You scare me because you have never run a company or met a payroll.

You scare me because you have never had military experience, thus don't understand it at its core.

You scare me because you lack humility and "class," always blaming others.

You scare me because for over half your life you have aligned yourself with radical extremists who hate America and you refuse to publicly denounce these radicals who wish to see America fail.

You scare me because you are a cheerleader for the "blame America" crowd and deliver this message abroad.

You scare me because you want to change America to a European style country where the government sector dominates instead of the private sector.

You scare me because you want to replace our health care system with a government controlled one.

You scare me because you prefer "wind mills" to responsibly capitalizing on our own vast oil, coal and shale reserves.

You scare me because you want to kill the American capitalist goose that lays the golden egg which provides the highest standard of living in the world.

You scare me because you have begun to use "extortion" tactics against certain banks and corporations.

You scare me because your own political party shrinks from challenging you on your wild and irresponsible spending proposals.

You scare me because you will not openly listen to or even consider opposing points of view from intelligent people.

You scare me because you falsely believe that you are both omnipotent and omniscient.

You scare me because the media gives you a free pass on everything you do.

You scare me because you demonize and want to silence the Limbaughs, Hannitys, O'Reillys and Becks who offer opposing, conservative points of view.

You scare me because you prefer controlling over governing.

Finally, you scare me because if you serve a second term I will probably not feel safe in writing a similar letter in 8 years.

Lou Pritchett

I don't know if this will hit you the way it hit me, but it pretty well covers all the bases--until I find more. It looks like a rough four (let's work to see that it's not eight) years, boys and girls. Hide your valuables and keep your powder dry!

People should not be afraid of their governments; governments should be afraid of the people.

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Pulling Together As a Team (Of Really Stupid Oxen)

I knew he was going to do it. It was inevitable. It's been done by every petty dictator since the beginning of time.

Do what?

Today, in his phony State of the Union Speech....or was it a practice State of the Union Speech? Or was it yet another step down the short, steep slide into national socialism?

He played the "shared sacrifice" card. The only persons that play the "shared sacrifice" card are dictators. George W Bush did it. As did Jimma Carter. Add Bill Clinton to the list, along with Richard Nixon and Franklin Roosevelt. I could come up with a long, long list of dictators from other countries and times that fit into this category, who were, in their time and place, responsible for diminishing the enjoyment of the lives of their subjects, who were guilty of impoverishing them and murdering millions.

There are a few reasons why the above mentioned American dictators have been unable to wreak the same kind of havoc as have those dictators of other lands and times. Oh, wait! Some of them actually have. We all remember, or have heard/read about the wars in which these dictators involved innocent Americans.

Shared Sacrifice.

Isn't it funny how we all have to share the "sacrifice," but the dictators, and their henchmen, never seem to sacrifice anything.

Well, Mr Obama, bring on the pain. We can handle it. Again.

Maybe one of these days, when we're poor enough, and hungry enough, we'll remember that, as America's best ever President said, that "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."

People should not be afraid of their governments; governments should be afraid of the people.

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

A Coronation by Another Name.....

One thing government does well: it stages great fiascoes.

I find myself wondering what it might've been like to attend the inauguration of President Thomas Jefferson. There was no FBI, BATFE, Homeland Security, According to an article on the PBS website, Jefferson "walked from his boardinghouse along Pennsylvania Avenue to the Capitol, where he would be the first president to take the oath of office there. He dressed in the casual clothes of an average citizen, as one account puts it, "without any distinctive badge of office" (Nash, pg. 267). Federalist Chief Justice John Marshall administered the oath of office, and a corps of local militiamen gave the new president a 16-gun salute."

According to Bartleby,

The outcome of the election of 1800 had been in doubt until late February because Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr, the two leading candidates, each had received 73 electoral votes. Consequently, the House of Representatives met in a special session to resolve the impasse, pursuant to the terms spelled out in the Constitution. After 30 hours of debate and balloting, Mr. Jefferson emerged as the President and Mr. Burr the Vice President. President John Adams, who had run unsuccessfully for a second term, left Washington on the day of the inauguration without attending the ceremony.

One account tells us that Jefferson went to a tavern for a meal after his inauguration. The place was packed, and none of the patrons saw fit to give the new President their table. He had to wait.

So, in those times, there was a United States divided sharply along party lines between the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans--much like the divide between Democrats and Republicans today. Yet, the new President was able to walk the streets of Washington DC without concern (and probably carried a weapon in his clothing to defend himself if necessary).

So, we go from that simple, unassuming tale of the succession of office in a young Republic to the outrageous, ostentatious wastes of millions of taxpayer dollars 'pon coronations designed to make European successions look like a child's clown, ice cream and cake birthday party by comparison.

Further, according to a Bloomberg story, B Hussein Obama's coronation party organizers plan to have a 42,500-strong security force comprised of members of every one of the unConstitutional alphabet soup federal jackbooted thug police agencies, not to mention the Army, the National Guard and members of several local police agencies from across the country.

Protesters will be beaten up and jailed. People who don't fit the mold of sheep in men's clothing will be harassed, scrutinized, searched and perhaps further assaulted by federal thugs. One can only guess at the number of instances of abuse of the Founding Documents will be perpetrated by these mindless subhumans in the days of this stunningly offensive fete!

Not singling out the current Kings Presidents, going back at least as far as Nixon.

I'd be fine with a large hall dinner and a roast of the new dictator President, provided the check is divided equitably among the attendees, and provided not taxpayer money is used, nor any bribes from lobbyists.

There's mainly a single, solitary reason why the fuhrers Presidents in recent decades are so despised, and it has to do with administrations stepping outside their boundaries and interfering so egregiously into the affairs of others, either foreign or domestic. Were the various government officials to mind the business of administration of a small government, designed to only operate within the constraints of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, most folks would treat him much like early Americans treated President Jefferson--just another one of us.

Wouldn't that be cool?

They've killed Freedom! Those bastards!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag Califorina

Creeping Fascism Is Learning to Walk--Faster

Readers who've been with me for a while know that I've long been warning of the coming of the equivalent of a Fourth Reich--right here in the United States. I've seen no reason to back off from this stance. My awareness of this threat was begun by my having read The Ominous Parallels, by Leonard Piekoff. I highly recommend this book.

The War on Drugs increased government's intrusions into the affairs of Americans, and the piggy-backed War on Terrorism has pretty much eliminated the Bill of Rights as a guarantee of Americans' rights.

These days, only large and loud protests can offer any brakes on government excesses. These protests, the ones large enough to reach the ears of power-mad politicians and bureaucrats, have mostly only happened because of the focusing power of conservative talk radio.

Leftist politicians now speak of using a "Fairness Doctrine" to diffuse talk radio, thus taking yet another big chunk out of the already decimated First Amendment.

My interest today centers 'pon yet another, perhaps more physical threat to the liberty we all see slipping away. According to a Washingtonpost.com story found here, the Pentagon has plans and is beginning to implement a program that will include stationing 20,000 Army Regular troops among us "to bolster domestic security."

Several years ago, I was walking along a downtown Tijuana street looking for a restaurant. I don't know what was going on, and nobody was talking, but there were dozens of Mexican federales (army soldiers) carrying automatic rifles on the street corners. Creeped me out. I grabbed my lady, flagged down a cab and we dined in safe and sane San Diego instead. I've never crossed that border again, and doubt if I ever will.

While the plan is allegedly to have troops available to assist state National Guard units and local police in the event of a "domestic chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or high-yield explosive attack, or CBRNE event, as the military calls it," it promises to have many other, more insidious uses.

We've all seen how mission creep works as it applies to government programs, and this plan is a clear small step in a directed creeping mission that will tighten control of the populace with respect to freedom of movement. It is specifically targeted toward keeping people in line as disgust with the excesses of government increases.

Can strategically located checkpoints, manned by heavily armed jack-booted thugs really be very far behind? A program of house-to-house searches for who knows what--but we'll just take these dangerous firearms off your hands before you're harmed by them, would seem a logical subprogram.

One could (I don't) assume that the current crop of power-mad politicos are sincerely concerned for our security and safety, but what about the next administration?

In my opinion, this is serious stuff. Voting with your feet kind of stuff.

Before they cut off the routes of escape.

They've killed Freedom! Those bastards!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

The Brain Drain Tax

Back in the 1960's, I recall #1 all time Hall O' Fame Science Fiction Writer Robert A Heinlein saying that as the United States drifts toward socialism, and as USSR is gradually forced to accept degrees of capitalism, USSR would surpass the US in the degree of freedom by, I think it was, approximately 1980. While part of sci-fi writers jobs is to suggest possible futures, this area is fraught with danger. While Heinlein came very close to being right, after President Reagan drove them broke trying to keep up with us in the arms race Russian President Vladimir Putin (Modern Russia's near-equivalent to Germany's Adolf Hitler), is now saying "we'll have no more of this freedom crap" or words of similar meaning.

Putin appears to be restarting the Cold War. That's a big danger now, because recent weak-kneed US Administrations have no will, nor do they really have enough extorted cash, to engage in such a battle. President-elect Obama gives indications that he'd rather switch than fight. Or, the masochist's version: he'd rather be switched than fight.

Meanwhile, the wheels of the bus go round and round, and the bus has long since turned left. We can thank every Administration since Reagan's for that. By the end of Obama's term, the argument may not be about who will win, but how the spoils will be divided, and whether it'll be Putin or Obama who'll be selected World Dictator for Life. These, of course, are merely pessimistic musings on my part. I hope I'm wrong.

The world's productive individuals, those of them who are not scrambling over each other's backs for government bailout cash, are wondering where they stand.

There's been a lot of banter on the net and probably in other venues about "going John Galt." Since entrepreneurs who earn $250k and over have been declared the enemy by Obama, it's no surprise that small business owners in that category, or are working toward that category, are concerned.

Some, according to this entry on the Instapundit blogsite, are planning to "relax." That is, simply lay off employees and work only hard enough to stay below that threshold.

Others speak of liquidating their assets and leaving the country. There are many parts of the world, while perhaps even more socialistic than the US, offer pleasant country areas in which an individual or family can live in peace, tinkering, painting or writing with out much interference from that government.

Well, it's going to be tougher to outsmart the Reich than it used to be. According to a New York Post story, Americans who want to leave America and to retire to Italy (for example) will have to pay a hefty tax.

Thanks can be given to a bill that passed Congress recently and was quietly signed by President Bush two weeks ago.

Called the Heroes Earnings Assistance and Relief Act of 2008 (the HEART bill, for short), the main part of the new law deservedly gives benefits to soldiers. But the last part of the bill, under "revenue provisions," sticks it to anyone who no longer wants to live the American dream.

Now, one has to be very crafty about getting his assets liquidated and removed from the country. Even British rock stars and Canadian actors will have to pay the tax to return to their own countries.

This, of course, is patterned directly after the taxes that needed to be paid by citizens of the USSR who wanted to expatriate during the Cold War. Which brings me back to Heinlein's prediction. Pay attention to science fiction writers. Sometimes they're right.

Tip of the old gray fedora to Noodle Food and Instapundit for

People should not be afraid of their governments; governments should be afraid of their people.

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Voting According to Race

With the very tardy arrival of candidates of races other than caucasian, the the specter of racism has lifted its ugly, and wholly erroneous, head. Nonetheless, there will be those who vote based 'pon race. It's the theory of myself and many others that there'll be far more who vote for Obama because he's half black than will vote against him for that reason.

In my opinion, Obama should be defeated. If Obama is elected, he'll advance the destruction of what little remains of the free market in America. He'll tax business--those who create jobs--to a higher degree, which will cause layoffs and business closures--high unemployment. He'll spend on social programs and pet projects, more than even GW Bush. He'll cripple what remains of business and manufacturing by means of environmental regulation and other nonsense. He'll socialize medicine, causing the best medical people to drop out of the industry and a general deterioration and ultimate rationing of services.

There will be many other negatives based on Obama's projected meddling in the market, not to mention the increased corruption that always accompanies increases in government power.

Obama will increase the foreign entanglements the Founders warned against, to our detriment.

To be fair, life under the McCain dictatorship probably won't be much better. Where Obama would socialize medicine, McCain would make a compromise with the Democrat Congress to a socialized medicine with copays. McCain would similarly compromise in other areas to like effect.

But, this is about race.

Imagine that Obama is elected. After his term as President, he will leave a legacy of having advanced the destruction of America's free market system (Such as it is after the assaults of every President since Roosevelt--you decide which Roosevelt) more than any previous administration. American liberty will be a memory.

And many will be very angry. There could be attempts to secede, and there could be civil war.

How long do you think it'll be before there'll be another black individual elected President?

I'd vote for a black man (or woman) for any office, in a second--as long as that individual was pro liberty, pro free market and in favor of the right of every individual to self ownership, self determination and self defense.

Individuals of the stature of Walter E Williams and Thomas Sowell come to mind.

Tip of the battered gray fedora to Scott Schneider for the idea leading to this entry.

Here comes the new boss, same as the old boss.

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Giving A Debate Away

I usually find that I can't stand to listen to politicians talk for more than a few seconds. I'm continuing, usually in vain, to hope they'll make their points quickly so I can change the channel. The current exceptions to this include Newt Gingrich and Sarah Palin (so far), with whom I disagree profoundly on many premises. Newt Gingrich is very clever, has a good sense of humor and is consistent within the confines of his flawed principles. Palin is cute, has a very refreshing sincerity and has a delightful "Fargo" accent. We'll see what the Republican handlers do to destroy that!

That (about Palin) might sound a mite demeaning, but I'm just referring to listening to her speak, not the content of what she says. I'm sure I'll have more of substance to say about the content of her speeches very soon.

I watched/listened to the debate yesterday in spite of all that. My comments are very predicatable, in that the debate (using the term very loosely) taught me nothing I didn't already know: With every new Presidential Campaign, our choices get closer and closer together. More and more bland, yet more and more able to affect our lives negatively.

More and more like Mr Thompson of the novel, Atlas Shrugged.

Mr McCain gave the debate away with his very first utterances, as he decried and condemned the greed of bankers, financiers and Wall Street traders and called for prosecutions (persecution?) and punishment, showing that he equates seeking profit with criminality. He partially redeemed himself on a couple of occasions, but never fully washed away the stink of anti-capitalism from his presentation.

Mr Obama, for his part, spoke with more consistency within the confines of his basic premises. Again, they were all wrong, but he came off with a bit more believability than did McCain. Obama was very careful not to let us in on the extent of his planned socialistic programs, but made it very clear that he is for bigger, more restrictive government and that he's a major policy maker in the War on Productivity.

He wants to rob the productive and, after a small rakeoff--say, 50%--give to the non-productive.

McCain is, too, but has a different gang that he wants to bring into the Castle Court, while the rest of us are slaving away on our subsistence farms. Allow me to suggest reading the L Neil Smith novel Pallas, which describes the Greely Utopian Memorial Project in admirable detail, and the Frank Herbert novel Hellstrom's Hive, which admirably (and frighteningly) describes the socialist ideal, to which both of these candidates subscribe, though they won't admit it, and might not even fully realize it.

McCain wants to continue building the ultimate security state, in which everyone is under surveillance all the time, everything that's not mandatory is prohibited and the military is king.

One of the aspects of this debate that stood out even more than its content, was the fact that every time McCain offered a specific criticism of an Obama policy or an item of his meager record, Obama would, right then and there, interrupt in his own, usually disingenuously, defense. He cut into McCain's time repeatedly and unapologetically, and worse, Jim Lehrer, the alleged moderator, let him do it. At one point, Lehrer relented slightly and said he'd have to balance the time--I don't know if he ever did.

I silently felt as if I should give a bit of a cheer, the first of a couple of times as McCain actually interrupted Obama.

In summary, I don't think I actually learned anything new from this debate. They still seem to be what I've thought they were from the beginning: Obama a cloaked Marxist, McCain a largely unpredictable middle-of-the-roader. Both with the intent of increasing government's role interfering with the lives of the "productive class."

Here comes the new boss, same as the old boss.

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

The Second War Century

Right now I'm watching (listening to) a Rachel Maddow special on MSNBC. I really don't think that much of Maddow, who is pretty far on the socialist side. Her guest was Chris Matthews, of Hardball fame. I like Matthews a little better, but not much. His love for B Hussein Obama borders on the neurotic.

He was giving a monologue on the reaction of the Bush Administration (and the people of the US) to the destruction of the World Trade Center by mad-dog fascist muslims.

He described Bush's speech a couple of days after the attack, and the fact of Americans' near-unanimous agreement and resolve to bring the planners and financiers of this atrocity to justice, quickly and decisively. The military was quickly mobilized and prepared for action. They were sent to Afghanistan to find Osama bin Llama and all those who follow and protect him.

Matthews continued that, he didn't know exactly how and when, but a neocon cabal led by Cheney, Rove and Ashcroft, perhaps others, swerved the effort into Iraq for ideological reasons still not completely known.

According to Matthews, this act destroyed the trust of many in the Bush Presidency and split the nation.

Matthews' comments ended there, and I have to say that I generally agree with this view. While I certainly will never call Saddam Hussein anything better than a completely evil and despicable dictator, there are many completely evil and despicable dictators on the planet. Why him?

Meanwhile, bin Llama remains relaxing in his villa in the South of France, issuing orders by encrypted email to his lieutenants around the world and enjoying blonde women kidnapped from Stockholm, cuba libres and blt sandwiches.

Every now and then, another bomb goes off somewhere in the world, more often than not in Baghdad, and kills a few people. Bin Llama chuckles.

The one Bushian phrase that rings out, before the body cavity searches in airports, before the wiretapping without a need for a warrant, before the installation of video cameras just about everywhere, before the proliferation of quasi-military police departments in just about every city--even in Mayberry, I'll wager--and before handbag searches everywhere crowds gather, is the one he uttered in one of his early post 9/11 speeches to the effect that the "War on Terror" is likely to last a very long time.

I think he and his cronies are doing their best to make sure it does.

People should not be afraid of their governments; governments should be afraid of their people.

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Georgia Wasted Its Dime

I'm not fully informed as I'd like to be about the situation in Georgia, but what I've heard/read from various sources seems to indicate that USSR Russia is conducting a program of genocide maybe not quite as bad as that going on in Darfur. How dare the Georgians aspire to freedom? How dare they attempt to set their own path?

I'm not going to argue over the situation between Georgia and the regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, because I don't know enough about it, and don't care. If those regions want to throw away (relative) freedom to become a part of communist Russia, let 'em.

The President of Georgia is looking for help, but the US President was in Communist China, watching the Olympics. The 3am call went unanswered. Where is Hillary when we need her?

Now, I'm fully opposed to the idea of sending troops to protect Georgia, just as I'm opposed to sending troops to Darfur. The US military's job is, by Constitutional mandate, only to protect the United States and its interests. It's difficult to construct a logical path that brings either Georgia or Darfur under the umbrella of US interests. Just as it remains difficult to construct a similar path with regard to Iraq.

It's long been known by freedom-loving people that a country possessing a large standing military will find excuse after excuse to use it. Russia's actions of the past couple of weeks is an excellent case in point, as are many others in the past century and in the first few years of this one.

The Bush Administration blathers on about diplomatic penalties that may be imposed 'pon Russia if it doesn't pull back--but Russia isn't pulling back and the sanctions remain mere threats. The Administration has also been unable to impose sanctions against the islamo-nazi countries, so far.

The art of diplomacy is utterly wasted when placed in the hands of government. Those who fill the suits of leaders are unprincipled fools of the worst sort, incapable of applying logic to any situation and unable to render even the most simple decision.

Traders should be the diplomats. Those who make deals with individuals in other countries for the commodities to be imported into the US and exported out would be far more capable of straight talk and benevolent interaction than indecisive, cowardly politicians thinking more about their retirements and legacies than about the problem at hand.

Until Americans force government out of areas in which it does not belong, and cannot function for the purpose of securing and protecting our rights. we'll have these emergencies and near emergencies that place us all in danger. That, followed by a lack of ability or desire to describe either the problem or a likely solution. Followed by further problems which are the unintended consequences of the prior flawed "solutions." Followed by conflicts in which many young people are killed and maimed, yet nothing is settled.

Those who can, do; those who can't do, teach; those who can't teach, become bumbling bureaucrats.

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

The International War On Hunger

So I'm watching Fox News, more listening than watching the continuing coverage of the comments of various thieves, power-mad politicos and pundits about the untimely death of Tony Snow. Snow was one of the nicer and smarter DC denizens, even despite the fact that he'd fallen in with a bad crowd. Compared to most of the thugs that inhabit Washington DC, he seemed to stand out as an honest, intelligent and rational individual (to the extent of my observation).

But, the passing of Mr Snow isn't what I'm writing about, today.

One of the thievin' thugs being interviewed by the Fox News talking head was Mike Huckabee, one of the unsuccessful Republican candidates for the party's nomination for President. Despite a few areas of grudging agreement, I'm happy that he didn't get the nomination.

Somehow, like most Republicans, Huckabee waxed altruistic (is it altruism when a man wants to give away money stolen from others? Of course it is!), and applauded the notion of the federal government "helping" in the fight against world hunger.

There are many problems with this idea, none of which will be addressed in the rush to take more and more money out of the control of those who produced it, and giving it to those who produce nothing.

• The entire notion of forcing goods from their producers to give to non-producers destroys the philosophically required principle, and very American tradition, of one's right to one's life and the products of that life.
• There is no Constitutional justification for "foreign aid" of any kind--in fact, the founders warned us in their writings about avoiding foreign entanglements.
• Much of the money stolen from its producers will end up in the pockets of American politicians and bureaucrats, rather than the hungry people we're (sneeringly) told are to benefit.
• Almost all the rest of the money will help fill the private bank accounts of the dictators in the countries whose people would supposedly help.
• The few truckloads of actual food to be given to the hungry people will exist mainly to provide photo opportunities for the partially complicit and/or very gullible world news media.

Huckabee is an evangelical preacher, and hence a class I altruist, whose altruistic ardor has led him to the other half of the Dark Side--politics. All the faith and force you can imagine, all wrapped up in one somewhat charismatic fellow. Given his deepest wishes, he'd have all of our hard-won production at his disposal--not for himself, mind, but for the ever growing numbers of others. Not that he'll stint on his own creature comforts, of course.

They never do.

What has to be done to end world hunger is to make the parts of the world in which poverty runs rampant become productive. That requires freedom. It requires recognition of the individual's right to his life and the products thereof.

That's not the prerogative of the federal government of the various United States. It falls to the people in the areas affected to right things for themselves--though interested individuals might find ways to help.

The world is smothering itself in an orgy of altruism.

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Ghoulish Algore Revels in Burma Destruction

It certainly was predictable. He's been telegraphing his intentions for some time--claiming that global warming will cause more and more hurricanes in the southern and eastern states. I can imagine that he was tearing his hair out, waiting for the high-body-count disasters that would help regenerate flagging interest in his nefarious agenda.

Finally, huzzah, a cyclone! Algore's jelly belly is just quivering with glee! Tens of thousands killed or missing. More to die from disease and unavailability of medical care over the upcoming weeks.

On the very day following the end of the storm, Algore finds a microphone and trumpets his "I told you so" as expected (and probably scheduled. As told in this story in the Business and Media Institute website, Algore leaprd to the NPR microphone to shout his mantra, "the cyclone is a consequence of global warming!" Truth be known, he has probably been sitting in front of that mike for weeks, waiting for something, anything, to happen that he could use.

Myanmar, traditionally known as Burma, having been renamed by an agency of one of its recent dictators-for-life is, and as a socialist republic will remain, a third world dictatorship, awash in squalor whenever it's not awash in flood waters. Philosopher Tibor Machan has recently written a short article on the reasons why, here.

Now, any event like that which happened in Burma is saddening beyond words, for the (mostly needless) loss of life. I say "mostly needless" because the socialist dictatorship in Burma has squelched technological advancement and left the country's millions vulnerable to the elements.

These are the kind of living conditions the algorians idealize for all the peoples of the world. This is the sort of world to which Algore's policies will ultimately lead us. Several algorians, past and present (most recently the evil and stupid Ted Turner), suggest that the ideal human population of planet Earth should be a few million naked savages, surviving as cannibals.

What more do you need?

Let them freeze to death in the dark.

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

A Proliferation of Taser Killings

Marshall Dillon pointed his Peacemaker at the cowboy without cocking the hammer. "Hand over your gun," he ordered.

"Sure, Marshall." The cowboy carefully took his pistol out of its holster and handed it, handle first to the lawman. "What did I do?"

"Found a dead man out on your ranch. Know anything about it?"

Now, Gunsmoke was hardly a historical duplication of the actual Dodge City of the 1880's, but it does point out the difference between the interface between the citizenry and the law in a more rational time.

"Get down on the floor and lie face down! Spread 'em!"

The man looked up from his sofa at the splintering of his front door, to see over a dozen fully armored men, armed with assault rifles pointed at him, storming into his home.

The man, reflexively, stood up. "What's this.....?"

One of the intruders shoots him with a taser. The man, who suffers with chronic episodes of heart arrhythmia, reacts badly to the voltage. His ailing heart gives up, and he dies.

Turns out, the maltrained SWAT Nazis had been given this address as a tip by a drug addict looking for a reduced sentence. The dead victim, who occasionally smoked some marijuana to ease his back pain, was dismissed as guilty even though he had no police record at all. He couldn't get his doctor to prescribe effective pain control because of federal scrutiny of physicians who specialize in these areas.

These are both dramatizations, but events similar to the second, or variations thereof, are happening every day. What with the unConstitutional asset forfeiture laws, it becomes profitable for police agencies to shoot first and never have to ask questions. The officers involved in these atrocities are almost always found to be acting properly, and are sometimes given promotions.

For those of us old enough to wistfully recall the days of Officer Mike, the beat cop, walking or driving through the neighborhood, knowing the names of many of the businessmen and residents, and always ready to help any way he (reasonably) can, from checking out the broken window you discovered when you returned from work to returning a child, who wandered out of his known neighborhood--not to child protective services, but home to his parents.

Police agencies have become paramilitary groups, far separated from the residents of their patrol areas. They usually don't live near their patrol areas. They don't talk to the residents or businessmen except when called, and then only to take a report and move on. In fact, there's a very real sense among police (acknowledged amongst themselves, that the citizenry are the enemy. Or they're "little people." They keep the peace by forcing the citizens they encounter to lie face down on the pavement and.....

Most of this us under the approving guidance of the breathing death's head, Michael Chertoff, and his recent predecessors. He'd do WWII Germany's top Gestapo men proud, and he hasn't yet approached his stride.

Well, Americans shouldn't have to prostrate themselves before authority. Not only is it demeaning, not only does it demolish one's right as a man to be considered innocent until proven guilty, but it ruins one's clothing.

Now the President, in accordance with his seeming desire to create a Fourth Reich, is dramatically increasing the ways to "keep track" of what Americans do and where we go. The President wants a universal ID card. He wants to be able to (and is many cases already does) check everyone's "papers, please?" at airports, train stations, and to keep track of people on surveillance cameras strategically placed just about everywhere.

One has to show ID and state one's purpose at entry to many public buildings. One has to show ID prior to just about any financial transaction (to be duly recorded in IRS records). Soon, there'll be ID checkpoints at random locations.

The President, and several of his recent predecessors, have created a plethora of special, sometimes secret federal police agencies, unConstitutional, one and all.

All of the above abrogations of Americans' rights to privacy, freedom of association and freedom of movement could be abolished, leaving Americans safer simply by reaffirming our Right to Keep and Bear Arms, and to defend our own lives, families and property.

I wonder what might be the purpose of all this? If we all make a guess, I believe many of us will come to the same conclusion.


They've killed Freedom! Those bastards!

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

A Lesson in Gun Control

The following series of statements has been circulating through the e-mails for a year or so. If you've already read it, I'm sorry for taking up your time, but it is a subject I regard as very important--as many of you already know. My brother, the Texan sent it to me most recently, and I thank him for having done so.

In 1929, the Soviet Union established gun control.
From 1929 to 1953, about 20 million dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

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In 1911, Turkey established gun control. From 1915 to 1917, 1.5 million Armenians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

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Germany established gun control in 1938 and from 1939 to 1945, a total of 13 million Jews and others who were unable to defend themselves were rounded up and exterminated.

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China established gun control in 1935. From 1948 to 1952, 20 million political dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

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Guatemala established gun control in 1964. From 1964 to 1981, 100,000 Mayan Indians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

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Uganda established gun control in 1970. From 1971 to 1979, 300,000 Christians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

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Cambodia established gun control in 1956. From 1975 to 1977, one million educated people, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

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Defenseless people rounded up and exterminated in the 20th Century because of gun control: 56 million.

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It has now been 12 months since gun owners in Australia were forced by new law to surrender 640,381 personal firearms to be destroyed by their own government, a program costing Australian taxpayers more than $500 million dollars. The first year results are now in:

Australia-wide, homicides are up 3.2 percent.
Australia-wide, assaults are up 8.6 percent.
Australia-wide, armed robberies are up 44 percent (yes, 44 percent)!
In the state of Victoria alone, homicides with firearms are now up 300 percent.

Note that while the law-abiding citizens turned them in, the criminals did not, and criminals still possess their guns!

While figures over the previous 25 years showed a steady decrease in armed robbery with firearms, this has changed drastically upward in the past 12 months, since criminals now are guaranteed that their prey is unarmed.

There has also been a dramatic increase in break-ins and assaults of the ELDERLY.

Australian politicians are at a loss to explain how public safety has decreased, after such monumental effort and expense was expended in successfully ridding Australian society of guns.

The Australian experience and the other historical facts above prove it.

You won't see this data on the US evening news, or hear politicians disseminating this information.

Guns in the hands of honest citizens save lives and property and, yes, gun-control laws adversely affect only the law-abiding citizens.

Take note my fellow Americans, before it's too late!

The next time someone talks in favor of gun control, please remind them of this history lesson.

With guns, we are 'citizens'.

Without them, we are 'subjects'.

During World War II the Japanese decided not to invade because they knew most Americans were ARMED!

Australians will know that those first-year crime statistics are old by now, but the more recent stats have continued the trend. Also, the final comment about the Imperial Japanese refers to a ground invasion, since they obviously did attack Pearl Harbor by air. Had the Japanese mounted a ground attack 'pon the American mainland, it would've been very embarrassing for them.

Shoot 'em if ya got 'em!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Hillary Explicitly Endorses Marxism

From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.

According to an AP story, widely reported on much of the alternative media, "We are all in it together" says the evil Mrs William Jefferson Clinton. I didn't see the accompanying photos, but I'm sure she had shackles and chains at the ready to enforce her edict.

Instead of an "On your own society," the Gorgon who would be President quipped, we should promote a "We're all in it together society."

There is only one way this can be translated, and such a society has ultimately had the same result every time it's been tried: First, eat the rich. Then, the starvation sets in. Then, kill the (scapegoats) dissenters as enemies of the revolution.

It's the beginning of the next phase of the federal government's War on Productivity.

Well, you might say, it won't be that bad. It probably won't, but only because America has enough riches that they won't be exhausted in the elitist twit's two-four year terms. After all, President after President since the time of the disgusting Abe Lincoln have been trying to bleed America's riches, and we're still pretty well off.

How long will we last? Until Atlas shrugs.

They've killed Freedom! Those bastards!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Death Squads of Homeland Security

It was pretty well guaranteed that when the President decided that the way to fight the "War on Terror" was to destroy the Bill of Rights that the Fourth Reich had begun. The fact that relatively few Americans protested has pretty much sealed it.

There are protests all the time. There was one last weekend in several cities. Unfortunately, the protests aren't against the crimes committed right here in the United States by those who are sworn to protect our rights, but against the federal government's bungling attempt to turn Iraq into a democracy.

Meanwhile, as we're distracted by the needless spending of both money and lives over there, innocent Americans are being murdered by homegrown death squads, also known as SWAT squads, right here in the land of the once free.

I've written about SWAT atrocities here, here and here, and Radley Balko, The Agitator, writes about them all the time, Now I've just read about another. Not that there aren't many more: the msm seems to be a mite deficient in their reportage of these things. We hear about them locally, but not nationally. The sheer numbers would cause a riot of outrage.

This one happened almost five months ago. A Wilmington, Delaware death squad murdered a US Marine veteran recently retired after two distinguished tours in Iraq and a medical discharge after a combat-related injury. Sergeant Derek J Hale was in Wilmington to participate in a Toys for Tots event with members of his motorcycle club.

Hale was unaware he was under surveillance by the local police because members of his club were suspected of dealing in drugs (for shame!). There is no evidence that Hale participated in any drug dealing. After accosting Hale, who had been sitting in front of an apartment building talking to a friend and her two children, they almost immediately tasered him not once, but three times. Then, while he was trying to comply with police orders (unable to physically control himself after the taser) he was shot three times in the chest and killed by the evil Lt William Brown of the Wilmington police.

The Wilmington police immediately went into cover-up mode and made up the standard excuse used by police death squads after they commit murder.

There were several witnesses to the murder, and a wrongful death civil lawsuit has been filed against WPD on behalf of Sgt Hale's widow.

While we all still seem to be living relatively free and comfortable lives, and these insane incidents don't really touch many of us, it's easy to remain complacent. Such is the way many of us behave. Such is the way many German citizens behaved too, until it was too late and they were being loaded unto trains.

It's hard to know when the political situation becomes unbearable, and what to do about it. We should all sharpen our wits and pay attention. We should all have passports.

Tip of the battered grey fedora: Pro Libertate Blog via Philosophical Detective.

They've killed Freedom! Those bastards!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

The Wonders of Socialized Medicine

According to this article on MSNBC's website, a renowned Spanish surgeon, Doctor Jose Luis Garcia Sabrido, an intestinal specialist from Spain, has been rushed to Cuba to try to stop a steady deterioration in Fidel Castro’s health. The doctor’s plane was also carrying advanced medical equipment not available in Cuba.

Naturally, the government of the People's Republic of Cuba calls of Doctor Sabrido or one of his peers whenever any citizen of the People's Republic suffers illness as serious as that of His Eminence, Sr. Castro. The People's Republic of Cuba has, of course, a fully socialized health care system which will spare no expense in keeping any and all of its citizens alive and healthy--from the Premier Dictator and Leader of the Ongoing Revolution to the lowliest cane cutter.

Oh, they don't? They've only done it for Sr Castro?

Oh.

Well.

Never mind.

A tip of the battered grey fedora to Ol'BC.

They've killed Freedom! Those Bastards!

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

When Is A Nazi Not A Nazi?

Answer: when it's not a part of Adolph Hitler's Germany between ~1933 and 1945.

At least, according to several master debators who scream that to make any reference to Nazism in regards to current-day United States of America is to ruin one's argument. This morning, Doug MacIntyre, morning talk show guy on KABC-AM in El Pueblo de Los Angeles, made just this argument with reference to Joy Behar's having compared Donald Rumsfeld to Adolph Hitler, on the tv talk show "The View," this morning.

First, I wouldn't call Rumsfeld nor any other member of the Bush administration Nazis--in spite of all the evidence to the contrary. What's happening in the United States has been progressing for many decades, and George W Bush and his administration have simply continued a long-established trend--as his father did before him.

Nazism is merely a contraction of the German phrase Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, which means, National Socialist German Workers Party. It also refers to that period in German history, called the Third Reich, during which Adolph Hitler was the nation's leader.

There are, in fact many comparisons between the recent United States and the German Third Reich, and they are detailed in Leonard Peikoff's 1982 book, "The Ominous Parallels."

The major differences between the two are that we can still vote, more or less in accordance with the US Constitution (many disagree about what that's worth), and that the American press and the internet are still more or less free.

We can, though, accurately refer to the current-day United States government as a fascist government. Fascism is defined by Dictionary.com as "a governmental system led by a dictator having complete power, forcibly suppressing opposition and criticism, regimenting all industry, commerce, etc., and emphasizing an aggressive nationalism and often racism."

Now, we don't quite have a full dictatorship yet, though recent residents of the White House exhibit many dictator-like traits, such as the propensity to "find a way" to do what they want done, with or without the authorization of the US Constitution, and the considering of themselves as something "above" the common person.

How much closer to a dictatorship-in-fact do we want to come?

My point is: Nazism and fascism are political systems each with precise definitions. It's indeed possible to make comparisons between these systems and capitalism, and it ought be done often. Only by making careful and precise comparisons and discussions can reality be known and described, thus making reality more clear and making changes poisssible.

Nazism and fascism are loaded words, 'tis true, but this is to the good. They awaken the mind and aid the focus, by their mere invocation. Some of us need to be awakened, it seems.

I don't agree with Behar's silly little quip, partly because I don't think she has a clue what she's saying, but I'm certainly not offended by the use of these loaded terms to draw attention to one's point.

They've killed Freedom! Those bastards!

Warm regarrds,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Pulling Our Punches

I've long thought that the wars in both Afghanistan and Iraq were fought poorly. When I say poorly, though, I mean POORLY! Criminally poorly! Secretary of Defense and Joint Chiefs of Staff should go to prison for criminal negligence poorly!

Before I go any farther, I hasten to assert that, while I agree with the need to go after Osama Bin Llama and his al queda gang, and to lay waste to Afghanistan if said dictatorship gives him safe harbor, I think the attack 'pon Saddam Hussein, evil emperor that he was, is frivolous at best, a pure waste of lives, time and money at worst.

As was stated by many a pundit of the more rational (read, less listened to) class, the administration of Iran was, and is, the philosophical leader of the revolt against reason and civilization that was and is the cause of islamic funny-mentalist ire. I suspect that, if and when the truth ultimately becomes known, Osama Bin Llama recieved much of his logistic aid from the administration of Iran.

The US military pulled every punch. They fed the enemy while they were fighting them. They avoided certain locations for political reasons. They gave the mullahs a pass. We don't know exactly what happened, but we know that most of the mullahs are still at large, acting as coarse sand tossed into America's military gears. When they had Bin Llama cornered at tora Bora, they decided to take a day off and let him go.

Troops are still in Afghanistan, doing who knows what, one of them occasionally getting killed or injured--for what?

As bad as Afghanistan seems, Iraq is, by comparison, what we veterans used to call a colossal clusterfuck. I don't care if the troops over there all claim that they're doing fine and really, really love helping the Iraqis put their utopia together in the image of the USA. Our own troops have been turned into half social workers and half sacrificial lambs.

Note the early months, after Baghdad was "secured," when the troops began taking casualties from "terrorists" in hiding, when the troops were ordered to exercise restraint. When they were fired upon by Iraqis from the shelter of mosques, troops were not allowed to destroy the mosques to get to their attackers. Had the troops leveled a single mosque, which was being used as a refuge for snipers, no mosque would ever be used that way again.

When the troops sealed off and "neutralized" Najaf, amid criticism from the world's MSM, they backed off asap and let Moqtada al-Sadr and his gang of killers leave (to come back and fight another day). I'm not sure exactly how all of that went down; there's a lot of conflicting verbiage in the reports that've been released, but suffice it to say, the troops didn't even try to win a decisive victory over Sadr and his band of merry men.

And now, they're ba-ack!

Again, I think our having invaded Iraq was utterly unnecessary, and a bad idea. But, having written that, we have to observe that every one of America's (unnecessary) wars and other military actions since WWII, has been fought with one arm tied behind "our" back. Not good.

Perry de Havilland, writing at Samizdata, observes some of the problems with restraint in warfare: more Americans (and allies) get killed.

Shelby Steele's article on "White Guilt and the Western Past," offers part of the reason why America pulls its military punches. The white West, guilty over the fact of white supremacy around the globe since the Renaissance, has no will to be accused of white supremacy now, in the wake of the many third world revolts against the white west, and of America's Civil Rights revolution. The US government lacks any sense of moral authority that can counter worldwide condemnation of its actions--not only in war, but in immigration control and other international debates.

Steele has some of the answer, but not all of it. American politics is a rudderless ship They have no morality and guiding principes beyond getting re-elected. The philosophy that built America is completely unknown to them--even, nay especially on conservatives. That's obvious by the fact that when al queda destroyed the World Trade Center, the first acts of the Bush administration were to limit the civil liberties of Americans. That trend continues to this day, and shows no signs of letting up.

Back to the subject, while the US government has to fight al queda, after its many attacks on this country, there is no such need to involve ourselves in the political/religious quagmire that is Iraq.

Better we should, claiming the moral high ground of self defense, attack al queda with all our strength, with an eye toward finding a way to neutralize Iran as necessary.

Remember, VOTE FOR NO INCUMBENT!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California