Is Rush Limbaugh reading The Gravy Train?!?!
On Thursday, June 18th the topic on this here blog was a prediction I was making that President Obama, if he is re-elected in 2004, would make a run at a third term in 2016 (you can read the entire post here.
Imagine my surprise to learn that today, June 30, Rush Limbaugh made a prediction on his radio program reflecting the same prediction I made a mere 12 days earlier (you can read about it on his website by clicking here.
So is Rush Limbaugh reading The Gravy Train? Well, I doubt it. But it does amuse me when I make a prediction before someone in the popular media, thus providing more evidence that blogs are becoming more and more interesting to read.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Thursday, June 25, 2009
History Repeating
The last few days I've been pondering how more than any other creature on earth, human beings deserve to be pitied. Our amazing ability to gravitate towards self-destruction is truly profound. And I'm not talking about ways of self-destruction that are so in fashion nowadays; I'm not talking about Global Warming or Nuclear War. In the end those means of annihilation are way too spectacular for our species. The truth is we lean towards much more subtle ways of destroying ourselves.
In the animal kingdom we most resemble lemmings. We learn precious little from our own history, get way too caught up in the current trends of things and are find hero-worship way too attractive. John Adams often lamented the elevation of the Founders from regular old men to something almost folk-like. And Adams was a Founder. Hero-worshiping our political leaders is nothing new, and it blinds us to their faults or even their ulterior motives. Like a driver who spills hot coffee on their lap, it is very difficult to avoid disaster when you're not even looking out for it.
Ronald Reagan said that democracy was never more than one generation from extinction. We certainly don't live by that creed today. The average citizen doesn't protect his/her rights with their own blood or sweat. We'd be lucky if 1/3 of us proactively read about current events, much less put the effort into trying to figure out what our leaders are doing behind the scenes.
On this site I blog mostly about political things so I don't expect as many hits here as, say, my wife gets on her blog. As a reflection of that most of the hits to my blog came between October 1, 2008 and November 4, 2008, election day. Only one month. Once an election is decided, interest in keeping the government accountable drops off a cliff. Not even clothes fashions go out as fast as interest in politics.
But why pity mankind? We have a saying: In Polite company, never talk about politics or religion. But in your day to day life does anything affect you more than those two things? The answer is clearly no, yet we have willingly set up rules to exclude those two items from our day to day conversations. It is fundamentally backwards, but almost universally accepted.
Humanity also suffers under another self-imposed cycle. We forge nations and set up their governments, then watch as they get corrupted and either implode from within or are conquered from without. Free societies willingly cede their own freedom to the government in exchange for broken promises. In reality those who don't fight for their 'rights' seemingly have very little use for them. In this fashion we usher in our own destruction.
In the history of this world our nation is no different. I often refer to democracy as an old battleship with tall wooden masts and wide glorious sails. The United States is the strongest of these battleships ever constructed. But like every ship it isn't perfect and was built with tiny holes in the hull. It doesn't really matter what we do or how fast we fix the holes because in the end the ship will sink, as every ship before her has. Additionally, the sad truth is there are some people on the boat who have no appreciation for the original construction, and as fast as you plug up the holes they attempt to re-design the ship under your feet. In doing so they create all new holes for you to fix. They won't listen to your attempts at reasoning, because to them this ship is old, outdated, and in need of some remodeling. 'The world has changed!" they say. To them you're holding up progress. They believe that mankind is always evolving and getting better, which necessitates their own brilliance over the past generations feeble mindedness. To them, Old = Bad. Old needs to be fixed, and they are doing you a favor in fixing it. But really their own 'fixing' only leads to the ship sinking faster.
So why pity mankind? Even if I were twice as smart as the smartest person on earth I'd still know nothing. The United States of America is the most powerful nation on Earth. We have a standard of living here that has never been seen on this planet. In fact, those living at a level we place in our poverty index live in more square footage per person than the average citizen of France. Our poor live larger than the average person in France. That is a profound statement. And yet regardless of those facts we still suffer under politicians who tell us the system is fundamentally broken and we must elect them to fix it. We are told rather pointedly that our health care system is broken beyond repair, never mind the fact that no hospital in this country can turn away a patient for not having insurance. It is 'common knowledge' that there are 42 million without health insurance, but no one ever mentions the 260 million who have insurance. That's a pretty big number. Instead we are told we need these politicians to come in and fix what is so obviously 'broken'.
Why pity mankind? Because not only do we have these politicians who constantly want to tinker with our ship, we also have those on board who welcome it. Politicians can't do this without support and they have plenty of people who aid them. There will always be people who look at the original holes and panic, having no foundation in anything but their faith in Government. It is all too easy for politicians to feed off their worry and get elected on the back of their concerns. We live in the United States, but based on the amount of items our politicians tell us we need them to address you'd think we live in Somalia.
That is why mankind needs pity. How could you not pity such a self-destructive race? A race that's aware of extreme injustices in the world, not capable of curing all those injustices, but isn't wise enough to know they aren't. A race that will destroy all that is good in this world at the behest of some politician or leader they worship and who promises them some sort of comfort. A race so in love with themselves they don't even look towards God?
During the Great Depression we looked towards Washington for our salvation, and it failed. After Hurricane Katrina we turned to the government for help, and it failed. After September 11th we turned to the government for aid, and again it failed. More recently during this economic downturn we are again turning toward government to solve our pain and we continue to expect a different outcome. Perhaps it is because the political faces have changed and re-newed our hope, but I don't think so. I believe our looking to the government for our health, our retirement, our safety, our education and everything else from the breast to the grave is an indication of something much more sober transpiring: our lack of a foundational faith in God, with which we wouldn't want government in our lives at all.
The Israelites sacrificed God for a King. David sacrificed God for a census. Solomon sacrificed God for chariots. And Americans sacrifice God for promises of security from the government. In November we traded the lives of the unborn for 'hope' of financial success. We traded friendship with Israel for (potential?) friendship with Iran. We bought into the message that economically we needed to fundamentally re-create the most successful economy this planet has ever known. We placed our hope in a man with intentions to re-design the ship we are on, instead of placing our hope in Christ.
Too often in our history a leader has preached security and prosperity only to deliver pain and suffering. It has happened before, and it will happen again. As long as we continue to look amongst ourselves for our salvation we will continue to be bitterly disappointed. It is unwise, and it is our nature.
So why pity mankind? In our fallen state, mankind is pity. If more people would recognize that they'd find peace in a Man who once said: "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." If more people placed their hope in Him, we'd have no need for politicians asking us to place our hope in them.
In the animal kingdom we most resemble lemmings. We learn precious little from our own history, get way too caught up in the current trends of things and are find hero-worship way too attractive. John Adams often lamented the elevation of the Founders from regular old men to something almost folk-like. And Adams was a Founder. Hero-worshiping our political leaders is nothing new, and it blinds us to their faults or even their ulterior motives. Like a driver who spills hot coffee on their lap, it is very difficult to avoid disaster when you're not even looking out for it.
Ronald Reagan said that democracy was never more than one generation from extinction. We certainly don't live by that creed today. The average citizen doesn't protect his/her rights with their own blood or sweat. We'd be lucky if 1/3 of us proactively read about current events, much less put the effort into trying to figure out what our leaders are doing behind the scenes.
On this site I blog mostly about political things so I don't expect as many hits here as, say, my wife gets on her blog. As a reflection of that most of the hits to my blog came between October 1, 2008 and November 4, 2008, election day. Only one month. Once an election is decided, interest in keeping the government accountable drops off a cliff. Not even clothes fashions go out as fast as interest in politics.
But why pity mankind? We have a saying: In Polite company, never talk about politics or religion. But in your day to day life does anything affect you more than those two things? The answer is clearly no, yet we have willingly set up rules to exclude those two items from our day to day conversations. It is fundamentally backwards, but almost universally accepted.
Humanity also suffers under another self-imposed cycle. We forge nations and set up their governments, then watch as they get corrupted and either implode from within or are conquered from without. Free societies willingly cede their own freedom to the government in exchange for broken promises. In reality those who don't fight for their 'rights' seemingly have very little use for them. In this fashion we usher in our own destruction.
In the history of this world our nation is no different. I often refer to democracy as an old battleship with tall wooden masts and wide glorious sails. The United States is the strongest of these battleships ever constructed. But like every ship it isn't perfect and was built with tiny holes in the hull. It doesn't really matter what we do or how fast we fix the holes because in the end the ship will sink, as every ship before her has. Additionally, the sad truth is there are some people on the boat who have no appreciation for the original construction, and as fast as you plug up the holes they attempt to re-design the ship under your feet. In doing so they create all new holes for you to fix. They won't listen to your attempts at reasoning, because to them this ship is old, outdated, and in need of some remodeling. 'The world has changed!" they say. To them you're holding up progress. They believe that mankind is always evolving and getting better, which necessitates their own brilliance over the past generations feeble mindedness. To them, Old = Bad. Old needs to be fixed, and they are doing you a favor in fixing it. But really their own 'fixing' only leads to the ship sinking faster.
So why pity mankind? Even if I were twice as smart as the smartest person on earth I'd still know nothing. The United States of America is the most powerful nation on Earth. We have a standard of living here that has never been seen on this planet. In fact, those living at a level we place in our poverty index live in more square footage per person than the average citizen of France. Our poor live larger than the average person in France. That is a profound statement. And yet regardless of those facts we still suffer under politicians who tell us the system is fundamentally broken and we must elect them to fix it. We are told rather pointedly that our health care system is broken beyond repair, never mind the fact that no hospital in this country can turn away a patient for not having insurance. It is 'common knowledge' that there are 42 million without health insurance, but no one ever mentions the 260 million who have insurance. That's a pretty big number. Instead we are told we need these politicians to come in and fix what is so obviously 'broken'.
Why pity mankind? Because not only do we have these politicians who constantly want to tinker with our ship, we also have those on board who welcome it. Politicians can't do this without support and they have plenty of people who aid them. There will always be people who look at the original holes and panic, having no foundation in anything but their faith in Government. It is all too easy for politicians to feed off their worry and get elected on the back of their concerns. We live in the United States, but based on the amount of items our politicians tell us we need them to address you'd think we live in Somalia.
That is why mankind needs pity. How could you not pity such a self-destructive race? A race that's aware of extreme injustices in the world, not capable of curing all those injustices, but isn't wise enough to know they aren't. A race that will destroy all that is good in this world at the behest of some politician or leader they worship and who promises them some sort of comfort. A race so in love with themselves they don't even look towards God?
During the Great Depression we looked towards Washington for our salvation, and it failed. After Hurricane Katrina we turned to the government for help, and it failed. After September 11th we turned to the government for aid, and again it failed. More recently during this economic downturn we are again turning toward government to solve our pain and we continue to expect a different outcome. Perhaps it is because the political faces have changed and re-newed our hope, but I don't think so. I believe our looking to the government for our health, our retirement, our safety, our education and everything else from the breast to the grave is an indication of something much more sober transpiring: our lack of a foundational faith in God, with which we wouldn't want government in our lives at all.
The Israelites sacrificed God for a King. David sacrificed God for a census. Solomon sacrificed God for chariots. And Americans sacrifice God for promises of security from the government. In November we traded the lives of the unborn for 'hope' of financial success. We traded friendship with Israel for (potential?) friendship with Iran. We bought into the message that economically we needed to fundamentally re-create the most successful economy this planet has ever known. We placed our hope in a man with intentions to re-design the ship we are on, instead of placing our hope in Christ.
Too often in our history a leader has preached security and prosperity only to deliver pain and suffering. It has happened before, and it will happen again. As long as we continue to look amongst ourselves for our salvation we will continue to be bitterly disappointed. It is unwise, and it is our nature.
So why pity mankind? In our fallen state, mankind is pity. If more people would recognize that they'd find peace in a Man who once said: "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." If more people placed their hope in Him, we'd have no need for politicians asking us to place our hope in them.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Prediction
Here is my prediction. If you remember it in 7 years and I'm wrong, I'll welcome the criticism.
If Obama wins re-election in 2012, his administration will try and figure out a way for him to run for a third term.
Here is what needs to happen first: President Obama needs to deflect responsibility for the current and future economic difficulties onto someone else. He's doing his darnedest to blame everything on the previous administration, and if the American people buy into it and re-elect him, I believe he will want to serve a third term by capitalizing on that popularity.
History is our best source for predicting the future, because when it comes down to it human beings don't really change. I wouldn't be the first to compare President Obama to FDR. FDR and Obama have a few things in common that lead me to believe Obama will want to follow in FDR's steps and seek additional terms.
1) FDR wanted to fundamentally change the structure of the American government, which
is a goal of President Obama's.
2) The changes FDR implemented resulted in more government control and power centralized in
the Federal government. Obama has the same goal in mind.
3) They both believe that these changes are necessary and good. They have more faith in
government than they do in individual citizens.
People who want to change things in radical ways tend to believe that they are the only ones capable of bringing about those changes. FDR was no exception. Does President Obama think the same way? I believe he does, which is why I'm coming out with what I think is a pretty bold prediction. If he manages to stay popular as things continue to be difficult (which FDR managed to do by getting re-elected three times in much worse circumstances), then I don't see him letting go of that power any time soon.
The test comes in 2012. Think of this: President Obama has added more debt than every previous president before him combined, yet still talks of 'fiscal responsibility' and 'pay as you go' without the American people taking him to task on it. How long that generosity will last is any one's guess, but if our current president is as slick as FDR was at deflecting criticism (done primarily through preaching solidarity and promising more government help), then he will be able to win re-election. And I will go on the record right now saying I think a second term wouldn't be the last we'll see of President Obama.
If Obama wins re-election in 2012, his administration will try and figure out a way for him to run for a third term.
Here is what needs to happen first: President Obama needs to deflect responsibility for the current and future economic difficulties onto someone else. He's doing his darnedest to blame everything on the previous administration, and if the American people buy into it and re-elect him, I believe he will want to serve a third term by capitalizing on that popularity.
History is our best source for predicting the future, because when it comes down to it human beings don't really change. I wouldn't be the first to compare President Obama to FDR. FDR and Obama have a few things in common that lead me to believe Obama will want to follow in FDR's steps and seek additional terms.
1) FDR wanted to fundamentally change the structure of the American government, which
is a goal of President Obama's.
2) The changes FDR implemented resulted in more government control and power centralized in
the Federal government. Obama has the same goal in mind.
3) They both believe that these changes are necessary and good. They have more faith in
government than they do in individual citizens.
People who want to change things in radical ways tend to believe that they are the only ones capable of bringing about those changes. FDR was no exception. Does President Obama think the same way? I believe he does, which is why I'm coming out with what I think is a pretty bold prediction. If he manages to stay popular as things continue to be difficult (which FDR managed to do by getting re-elected three times in much worse circumstances), then I don't see him letting go of that power any time soon.
The test comes in 2012. Think of this: President Obama has added more debt than every previous president before him combined, yet still talks of 'fiscal responsibility' and 'pay as you go' without the American people taking him to task on it. How long that generosity will last is any one's guess, but if our current president is as slick as FDR was at deflecting criticism (done primarily through preaching solidarity and promising more government help), then he will be able to win re-election. And I will go on the record right now saying I think a second term wouldn't be the last we'll see of President Obama.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Land of our Forefathers?
"Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There is never a democracy that did not commit suicide. " John Adams
It is true true that no democracy has lasted forever. But neither has any monarchy, empire or dictatorship for that matter. So why make the statement?
Statements we make come from our opinions and our opinions are shaped by our individual experiences. The differences between generations of humans can be attributed to our lack of shared experiences. My generation lacks experience of an economic downturn, and thus have difficulty understanding why things are more difficult now than in any time in their lifetime. Who can blame them, having been less than 10 years old through the 80's and only beginning to pay attention to things during the roaring 90's?
THE SET UP
Our Founders created a system of governance born from their shared experiences of tyrannical government. They had daily experience with a government that was neither of the people, by the people or for the people.
Today the average American has no life context to understand that mindset, no contact with tyrannical government, no experience of government oppression of their rights. Most of our difficulties revolve around not being able to find work, expensive health care bills, and the endless pursuit of trying to divorce consequences from our actions. Is it any wonder that we continually vote to give the government more power over our lives? It isn't madness that plagues us, but a basic failure to understand the context of our founding.
Once we understand that our experiences shape our opinions we can begin to understand why Adams would state that democracy will lead to its own destruction. A people who have grown so fond of success will panic when that success is threatened. They vote for the candidate who promises the most, not for the candidate who promises tough love.
For the average American voter, who is more attractive: the candidate who promises to raise taxes only on the richest 3% to pay for health care for the other 97%, or the candidate who says they are against such programs? Can anyone honestly speculate that our Founders, the same men who originally forbid the Federal government from printing money, would want them to have control over our health care? If our system of government was designed to prevent that type of government control, why do so many today favor it?
The lack of understanding the historical context of our founding leads to further difficulty. Our rights are no longer understood to mean what they were created as.
Our Founders were afraid of government tyranny over speech, so they prohibited it from interfering with our right to express what we want. Today our right to free speech is understood to mean that we are free to print pornography, free to say hateful things and free to stand on the corner and shout at everyone whatever we want.
Our Founders were afraid of the government forcibly employing their will on the people, so they wrote in our right to bear and keep arms. Today we are told that in order to protect us the government needs to remove that right from everyone, not just the dangerous.
THE TRANSITION
We are products of our own success, and our success has become a detriment to our freedom. As Adams predicted we are slowly voting away what our Founders put in place. Our primary deficiency is that we no longer share the experiences of our Founders. Because we as a nation no longer have the capacity for this understanding, our politicians have run amok. Over time the Federal government's power has grown at the expense of the States' power and at the expense of our rights. We now have government programs that provide for our welfare, our medical care, our education, our infrastructure and our retirement. The Fed spends our money by the trillions of dollars against the will of the public. The government owns what were previously privately held enterprises such as banks, insurers, and car manufacturers. Recently our government fired the head of a publicly traded company.
Our judicial branch has abandoned its intended purpose of interpreting law and embraced legislating from the bench, a fact embraced by a president who wants judges to have empathy for those whose cases they are deciding.
Our legislative branch has willingly ceded power to the executive branch.
How far have we strayed? Thomas Jefferson once called Alexander Hamilton a traitor for proposing the creation of the First Bank of the United States. Hamilton thought that there should exist a bank to provide for the financial needs of the Federal government, and Jefferson thought that ceded too much authority to the Fed and was unconstitutional. Considering the recent actions of the Federal government with the stimulus package and TARP plans, was Jefferson so wrong in his opinion?
THE FUTURE
On our current path it will not be long until the United States exists in name only. Just as Rome survived its own change into an empire, the name "United States" will survive whatever political mutations occur in the future. For instance, with the government now having ownership of what used to be private and public ownership of industry we are presented with two options: socialism and fascism. A reversion back to smaller more local government is unlikely, as politicians rarely relinquish power. Considering the current mindset of Joe Voter, it seems even more unlikely that he would request his political leaders to relinquish that power any time soon.
In socialist governments, the government (the people) own the means of production and decide how it is run. With fascism those industries are held privately, but the government tells them what to do. We have current examples of both over the last year. Where we go from here, is any one's guess. One thing is for sure, however: where we end up will be light years away from where we began.
It is true true that no democracy has lasted forever. But neither has any monarchy, empire or dictatorship for that matter. So why make the statement?
Statements we make come from our opinions and our opinions are shaped by our individual experiences. The differences between generations of humans can be attributed to our lack of shared experiences. My generation lacks experience of an economic downturn, and thus have difficulty understanding why things are more difficult now than in any time in their lifetime. Who can blame them, having been less than 10 years old through the 80's and only beginning to pay attention to things during the roaring 90's?
THE SET UP
Our Founders created a system of governance born from their shared experiences of tyrannical government. They had daily experience with a government that was neither of the people, by the people or for the people.
Today the average American has no life context to understand that mindset, no contact with tyrannical government, no experience of government oppression of their rights. Most of our difficulties revolve around not being able to find work, expensive health care bills, and the endless pursuit of trying to divorce consequences from our actions. Is it any wonder that we continually vote to give the government more power over our lives? It isn't madness that plagues us, but a basic failure to understand the context of our founding.
Once we understand that our experiences shape our opinions we can begin to understand why Adams would state that democracy will lead to its own destruction. A people who have grown so fond of success will panic when that success is threatened. They vote for the candidate who promises the most, not for the candidate who promises tough love.
For the average American voter, who is more attractive: the candidate who promises to raise taxes only on the richest 3% to pay for health care for the other 97%, or the candidate who says they are against such programs? Can anyone honestly speculate that our Founders, the same men who originally forbid the Federal government from printing money, would want them to have control over our health care? If our system of government was designed to prevent that type of government control, why do so many today favor it?
The lack of understanding the historical context of our founding leads to further difficulty. Our rights are no longer understood to mean what they were created as.
Our Founders were afraid of government tyranny over speech, so they prohibited it from interfering with our right to express what we want. Today our right to free speech is understood to mean that we are free to print pornography, free to say hateful things and free to stand on the corner and shout at everyone whatever we want.
Our Founders were afraid of the government forcibly employing their will on the people, so they wrote in our right to bear and keep arms. Today we are told that in order to protect us the government needs to remove that right from everyone, not just the dangerous.
THE TRANSITION
We are products of our own success, and our success has become a detriment to our freedom. As Adams predicted we are slowly voting away what our Founders put in place. Our primary deficiency is that we no longer share the experiences of our Founders. Because we as a nation no longer have the capacity for this understanding, our politicians have run amok. Over time the Federal government's power has grown at the expense of the States' power and at the expense of our rights. We now have government programs that provide for our welfare, our medical care, our education, our infrastructure and our retirement. The Fed spends our money by the trillions of dollars against the will of the public. The government owns what were previously privately held enterprises such as banks, insurers, and car manufacturers. Recently our government fired the head of a publicly traded company.
Our judicial branch has abandoned its intended purpose of interpreting law and embraced legislating from the bench, a fact embraced by a president who wants judges to have empathy for those whose cases they are deciding.
Our legislative branch has willingly ceded power to the executive branch.
How far have we strayed? Thomas Jefferson once called Alexander Hamilton a traitor for proposing the creation of the First Bank of the United States. Hamilton thought that there should exist a bank to provide for the financial needs of the Federal government, and Jefferson thought that ceded too much authority to the Fed and was unconstitutional. Considering the recent actions of the Federal government with the stimulus package and TARP plans, was Jefferson so wrong in his opinion?
THE FUTURE
On our current path it will not be long until the United States exists in name only. Just as Rome survived its own change into an empire, the name "United States" will survive whatever political mutations occur in the future. For instance, with the government now having ownership of what used to be private and public ownership of industry we are presented with two options: socialism and fascism. A reversion back to smaller more local government is unlikely, as politicians rarely relinquish power. Considering the current mindset of Joe Voter, it seems even more unlikely that he would request his political leaders to relinquish that power any time soon.
In socialist governments, the government (the people) own the means of production and decide how it is run. With fascism those industries are held privately, but the government tells them what to do. We have current examples of both over the last year. Where we go from here, is any one's guess. One thing is for sure, however: where we end up will be light years away from where we began.
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