Days of Infamy. What a difference sixty six years makes…

Carrier Shokaku
Planes of second wave ready for takeoff on carrier Shokaku
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“On the morning of December 7, 1941, that Fleet’s planes bombed all the US military air bases on the island (the biggest was the US Army air base at Hickam Field), and the ships anchored at Pearl, including ‘Battleship Row’. Nearly every plane on the ground was destroyed; only a few fighters got airborne and opposed the attacking planes. Twelve battleships and other ships either were sunk or damaged, 188 aircraft were destroyed, and 2,403 Americans lost their lives. The battleship USS Arizona exploded and sank with a loss of over 1,100 men, nearly half of the American dead.”
The next day, President Roosevelt addressed Congress. [These quotes come directly from the noted speeches as found in Volume Two of the series "This is America My Country", 1952.]
“Yesterday, December 7, 1941- a date which will live in infamy- the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.”
He went on to describe the job at hand:
“As Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy I have directed that all measures be taken for our defense.”
Roosevelt then rightly predicted,
“Always will our whole nation remember the character of the onslaught against us. No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory.”
In his December 9th radio address to the Nation President Roosevelt said,
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Question to Hillary: Where do you stand on the Second Amendment?

A questioner refers to "the specter of the proliferation of guns in our society" and asks Hillary Clinton’s position on the Second Amendment. The video was shot here in Gilford NH at a campaign event December 6th. Her answer is both evasive, and instructive. One must NEVER forget that the words spoken come from a … Read more

Good news for pro-life!

    Even though abortion remains the number one killer of people in Spain, a recent government crackdown helped promote a culture of life. From the Catholic News Agency:  Madrid, Dec 6, 2007 / 11:59 am (CNA).- The Spanish daily “La Razon” highlighted this week the pressure by Catholic groups which forced the closing of … Read more

Education and knowledge of civics

Wooden School Desk

Didn’t get the chance to mention these items that all seemed to speak to a single issue.  The first was a letter by a Laura Grafton from Michigan in USA Today (yesterday).  While it’s message was about lowering the drinking age, I caught this:

* Although the United States grants all the other rights and responsibilities of citizenship to 18- to 20-year-olds, it denies them the right to drink. Should the government have a right to pick and choose citizens’ rights?

This lady just has not been given an adequate educational background.  By definition, a right cannot be either given or taken away by government.  Our Founding Fathers understood that, and created the Constitution and the Bill of Rights that enumerated basic, fundamental set of rights; emanating from God, they are not to be violated or abridged.

Once again, a citizen gets it wrong, confusing rights with privileges.  Free Speech is a right, Freedom of Assembly is a right; Driving is a privilege and so is drinking.  Last I knew, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights is rather silent on the issues of either of the two.

Why do I bring up this nit-picking?  This is yet another case of poor civics training; trying to make a case of which is what amongst the general public does not make for good policy understakings.  Not understanding fundamentals of how our society is structured and ordered is a recipe for disaster.  Yet, early to mid-last century, this would not be much of an issue as Civics was taught. 

And we hear from the Dems that all kinds of things are a right – healthcare being the latest  national one in the news and college for all (if one is to believe Edwards) another.  One would have thought that if it were that important, wouldn’t the Founding Fathers have written about both?

And this doesn’t help much either in making me feel that our educational system is working all that well either:

U.S. students do worse in science and math

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. students are lagging behind their peers in other countries in science and math, test results out Tuesday show.

It gets worse…

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Be careful what you wish for…

. I saw this headline yesterday and couldn’t help but laugh: Power Watch Declared for Maine for Second Straight Day Looks like those granolas that wanted the PineTree State nuke-free might be shivering in their beds during these cold nights. According to the story that I found in the Citizen (Laconia, NH), For the second … Read more

“Gotta run- but get the word out- things are turning around and that’s no lie!”

Our friend, Blue Star Mother Sue Peterson sent the following note from her friend with an update directly from the major front in the war via her son, currently serving in Iraq.
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Writes Sue: "The following is from my friend and mother to Kirk…"
It was exciting to get this message from Kirk and hear some good news from Iraq.  I was pleased to get this photo of Kirk and Geraldo Rivera in the safer streets of Baghdad.
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If you remember to tune in to 60 Minutes tomorrow evening, Kirk worked behind the scenes to make that possible.  However, he has no control over how the story will told by CBS.
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Love,
Kelly
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Geraldo and Kirk Luedeke
And this is Kirk’s message:
All-
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Hope things are well back in the US.
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Well, today we’ve officially flipped over another calendar page to December…we’re moving ever slowly toward that redeployment date in spring of ’08.
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I can’t even begin to tell you how well things are going. This is a complete 180 from where I was in May/June, where we were losing a soldier each day, our base was being mortared and rocketed regularly and life was very depressing around here. Now, violence is down 80% across the district, Al Qaeda Iraq (AQI) is on the run, and journalists like Geraldo Rivera are broadcasting live from a Baghdad street without kevlar helmet and body armor…amazing considering that as recently as August, the very street that is now vibrant with markets, shops and children playing/people out and about was a ghost town with fewer than 5 stores open at any time, and daily IED attacks, sniper engagements and sectarian murder victims dumped on the streets.

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Not a bad Wednesday night

Couch Potato

I had three reasons not to watch the CNN/YouTube GOP Debate last night:

1) The debates aren’t really debates. Debating requires two or more
people to exchange and refute ideas in a dialogue. What we have mostly
been watching are candidates giving sound bites, one after the other,
in front of a crazy backdrop of lights and TV network logos.

2) After seeing all the ridiculous antics in the first YouTube debate,
I was ready for somebody in a Chewbacca suit to ask a question about
the candidates’ positions on gender neutrality.

3) A couple of the candidates aren’t even well-known in their own
districts; they certainly aren’t going to become president. Sorry
Hunter, Gravel.

But I ended up watching it anyways.

Why?

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Putting it in writing, in case law-enforcement continues to do wrong and actually ENFORCES a law…

Democrat illegal immigration plan in MA Did you happen to catch this piece of news about our liberal neighboring state to the south (“Oh Doug, like NH ISN’T liberal these days?”) regarding a change of policy for its state police? Saturday’s Boston Globe has the skinny: A new Massachusetts policy makes it clear that State Troopers should … Read more

Stop the Swine!

  Know that feeling you get when you see a solid chunk of your paycheck missing because its been sent off to some obscure place in a federal district far, far away? You feel like your getting ripped-off by the man, but you convince yourself that its necessary to fund a strong military and protect … Read more

VLog: Rudy the supply sider?

….                  JFK- Cut taxes      Rudy- cut taxes, increase revenues       Reagan- cut taxes                 increased revenues                                                    increased revenues . Having been to see Rudy Giuliani at a handful of campaign events, one thing that really strikes me is how strong a believer he is in the free market and peoples’ ability to make decisions on their own, free … Read more

Q: When was the last time the Supreme Court ruled on a 2nd Amendment case?

pirate gun………..Supreme Court
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The U.S. supreme court has agreed to hear Heller V. District of Columbia, to determine if the Capital’s 1976 handgun ban is constitutional. This past spring, a lower court ruled 2-1 that the ban is in fact unconstitutional.
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Both the plaintiff (a security guard) and the defendant (the city) have both filed petitions to have the case heard.
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Legal experts are predicting that SCOTUS’s ruling on his case will set a strong precedent for any lower court rulings pertaining to the 2nd Amendment across the country. And don’t forget– the last time that SCOTUS has ruled on a 2nd Amendment case was back in 1939.
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What?! Laying off government workers to (gasp!) save money? Don’t worry, it’s not happening here in NH…

. On Thanksgiving, we went to visit relatives in my homestate of Rhode Island, and once again, I found myself envious of something happening in the news down there when compared with my adopted every-bluer Granite State. Consider this headline from Boston.com: State workers get layoff notices amid budget cuts Can you believe this? We’re talking about RHODE ISLAND, … Read more

At least he’s consistent. Dope of the Week Award…

money sack..Screwer of taxpayers, Ray Burton..NH DOT workers..paying NH gas tax
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Why this guy continues to fool the voters as he does is beyond me. As reported in all of the state’s major media outlets at the end of last week, "Republican" Executive Councilor Ray Burton, fresh on the heels of sticking it to motorists with the new toll hikes, now wants to raise the tax on gasoline.
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In response to the "sudden" shortage of funds at the state’s poster child for totally blind fiscal foresight–the NHDOT, long-range highway plans are being revised, and, naturally, the politicians, led by this long-time faux-Republican, are once again poised to head straight for our wallets…
Executive Councilor Raymond Burton, R-Bath, who heads a committee charged with developing the plan, said unless the gas tax is raised, the state will continue to struggle to keep up with highway needs.
Notice he says nothing about maximizing the value for our dollars. He says nothing about eliminating the rampant waste that is obvious to all who have eyes and can see orange. He says nothing about what the DOT can do to regain the confidence of the hapless motorists here in the state. No, all this consummate big-spending, taxpayers-be-damned oily politician can do is TAKE MORE!!!
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And don’t think for a moment that Mr. Burton has taken any sort of a new position in light of present circumstances, either (unless you consider that, given the recent bridge collapse, the time is right for a propaganda campaign using the incident as a scare tactic). No, one thing about Ray Burton is that at least he’s consistent. He’s for screwing taxpayers today, as he was yesterday– as he has ALWAYS been. Consider this from the American Society of Civil Engineers website, dated mid-February, 2004:

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History recommends “prudent rulers” and “pre-emptive” war. Or else…

machiavelli…Iran hostages
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Bush the conqueror
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MaldivesCulture writes in this post from 2003, 
Niccolo Machiavelli was an Italian who died 1527 at the age of 58. He was a famous political theorist who advocated the principle of realpolitic – politics in its real sense, and how a ruler should rule a country.
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Realpolitic might be described as the dirty side of politics. Machiavelli believed that human beings are by nature more likely to do evil things than good. Human beings are ungrateful, selfish, violent, and anti-social and have an instinct of wickedness that is always dominant in their behaviour.
I was re-reading some portions of The Prince by Machiavelli, which I like to do from time to time, and came across this passage that really sums up our present situation. By not taking care of the Islamic problem when it manifested itself in the 1979 hostage crisis, we instead find ourselves in a much worse situation today, with Iran on the verge of obtaining nuclear weapons. Discussing the relationship between Rome, Greece, and the surrounding territories, Machiavelli writes:
[T]he Romans did what all wise rulers must: cope not only with present troubles but also with ones likely to rise in future, and assiduously forestall them. When trouble is sensed well in advance it can easily be remedied; if you wait for it to show itself any medicine will be too late because the disease will have become incurable.
Keep in mind that at the time, Rome was the dominating power throughout the civilized world, much as, whether we want to admit it or not, America is today. If you believe that this is OK because ours is the best civilization, as I do, then you know that the same maxims of self defense apply to us as they did to the Romans and should be employed. In a world of would-be destroyers, sometimes action is necessary. Machiavelli continues:
As the doctors say of a wasting disease, to start with it is easy to cure but difficult to diagnose; after a time, unless it has been diagnosed and treated at the outset, it becomes easy to diagnose but difficult to cure. So it is in politics. Political disorders can be quickly healed if they are seen well in advance (and only a prudent ruler has such foresight); when, for lack of a diagnosis, they are allowed to grow in such a way that everyone can recognize them, remedies are too late.
The question we face is whether at present, we are treating the "disease" that is Islamicism at the outset, or near the end. Should we have stamped out the problem in 1979? With over a billion Muslims and growing, all susceptible to the radicalized strain of the Islamo-fascists, are we too late? Maybe not. Again, from The Prince:

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Dope of the Week: John Edwards (again)

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As a small business owner, I have found that most proposals that come down the pike from Democratic politicians run counter to what we need from government. In fact, now that I think about it, I cannot think of much that they have proposed that has done anything but HURT small businesses. Oh sure, they do much in the name of the workers, often for short-term gains at high long-term expenses– once a business closes shop and goes elsewhere to get away from suffocating regulatory expenses and confiscatory tax rates, then what?
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Anyway, when I read the story about Democrat presidential wannabee John Edwards’ latest offering yesterday, I thought, "This again? Ho-hum." The Citizen (Laconia, NH) newspaper delivered the news:
When it comes to helping parents take time off from work, Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards is raising the stakes.
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The former North Carolina senator on Tuesday will propose spending $2 billion a year to help states create family leave programs that offer workers at least eight weeks of paid time off to care for a newborn or ill family member. The proposal is similar to those offered by his rivals but Edwards would put up more money — Sen. Hillary Clinton’s plan calls for $1 billion a year; Sen. Barack Obama proposes $1.5 billion.
No big deal here, right? After all, it’s pretty much standard Democratic fare. They have been trying to buy votes with promises of time off for work for years. Why would I care any more this time around? What’s a few extra billion among friends? But then the next line in the story caught my attention:

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Constitutional rights might invade D.C.

I now have the privilege in introducing DAVE who is thinking of joining us as part of the ‘Grok crew.  Based on this piece, I think he’ll fit in just dandy!  So please, be nice to him, on this, his first try!  -Skip
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Revolutionary War Soldier Winter

DC city hall bureaucrats are shaking in their federal government subsidized boots again.

Today, the Supreme Court is expected to state whether or not they will hear an appeal regarding DC’s long-standing ban of personal firearms. Back in March, a DC appellate court ruled that the 1976 ban on handguns in the District was in violation of the Second Amendment.

Oddly enough, the March suit was brought forth not by a big time gun company or a conservative activist group; but by a federal worker. Dick Anthony Heller, a security guard at a federal building brought forth the lawsuit to the DC appellate court in hopes that he could gain the right to keep his firearm at his home for personal protection.

DC, which has its very own massive federal appropriation to help feed its gluttonous diet for erroneous and failed government programs, hasn’t seemed to have curbed crime after almost three decades of banned firearms in the District. In fact, while the national homicide rate has fallen by 2% since the 76’ ban, DC’s actually rose.

John Lott from the National Review Online writes:

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WINNER, WINNER, CHICKEN-DINNER

He’s done it again.  For the second time in a row, Frank Guinta –that would be Republican Frank Guinta—has been elected Manchester’s mayor.  And, once again, he defeated a well-financed, articulate Democrat who was backed by the fearsome John Lynch. 

But wait.  How can this have happened when just one year ago Republicans in New Hampshire got their butts kicked worse than the Colorado Rockies? Everyone knows that New Hampshire has been turned into Blue Hampshire by immigrating hordes of quiche-slurping, latte-chugging, hybrid-driving, tree-hugging, all-we-are-saying-is-give-peace-a-chance liberals.  And it is also common knowledge that the Lynch political machine doesn’t lose.

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IT’S ABOUT TAXES

Day by day, the Manchester Union Leader grows more out of touch with political reality.  Today’s lead editorial, which is sub-titled, "It’s about good governing," claims that Frank Guinta won reelection as Mayor of Manchester because he ran on “managerial competence,” as if he were some type of Michael Dukakis clone – “this election is about competence, … Read more

Barbarians IN the gate?

barbarians at the gate.baby
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Edward Gibbon wrote in his classic “Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire” of the repeated eventual dominance of barbarians over a given epoch’s leading society.
“Cold, poverty, and a life of danger and fatigue fortify the strength and courage of barbarians. In every age they have oppressed the polite and peaceful nations of China, India, and Persia, who neglected, and still neglect, to counterbalance these natural powers by the resources of military art. The warlike states of antiquity, Greece, Macedonia, and Rome, educated a race of soldiers: exercised their bodies, disciplined their courage, multiplied their forces by regular evolutions, and converted the iron which they possessed into strong and serviceable weapons. But this superiority insensibly declined with their laws and manners;”
Does this not sound familiar?  While written back in 1788, the points Gibbon made in his famous work about what happened to Rome provide a timeless warning. “In every age” the barbarians did what barbarians do: attack and destroy civilized peoples. You cannot change this reality- unless the “barbarians” become civilized- at which point they are no longer “barbarians.”
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It is only logical that there are two required actions that civil societies must take in light of this: maintain a strong defense against attack, while at the same time try to make the wild enemies civil. There is no doubt that, given today’s war with the Islamists, many people actually understand this concept. These would be the people that support, more or less, the current battles in the war.
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But what if other, perhaps unrelated barbarians present a wholly separate, and as yet undetected threat? What if, in addition to the Islamo-fascists hoards seemingly at the proverbial gate, we discovered, once too late, that, like some Trojan Horse, ‘they" are among us? What if we woke up one day and realized, to our complete horror, that the barbarians within are indeed our very own children?
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bad kid spanked
Spare the rod, spoil civilization?
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Don’t lose sight of the fact that Gibbon notes a decline in "manners". What does he mean by that, exactly? Could it be something like this from yesterday’ Citizen (Laconia, NH) newspaper?
BELMONT — A resident petition seeking to address recurring problems involving juveniles roaming the streets after dark, has members of the Board of Selectmen considering a curfew/loitering ordinance for the downtown area.

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Business as usual ends in Dover

. I’m sure my friend Bill is happy today— the tax cap proposal has been passed by the voters of Dover. Good for them! The charter amendment passed Tuesday by a margin of 405 votes, with 3,225 votes in favor and 2,820 votes opposed. When you add them to the growing list of cities that … Read more

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