Big Dogs Weblog

Pain

Jan 29, 2021 COVID, Opinion, Political

Consequences are a necessary component of poor decision-making. This applies to nearly every decision someone makes.  The more important the decision, the more pain is likely felt in deciding incorrectly.  Choosing poor fashion options may only result in minor ridicule or embarrassment; partying excessively the night before a big test may lead to poor performance on said test; blowing rent money at the casino may result in eviction from living spaces.  Lazy or poor thinking nearly always leads to adverse consequences.  Feeling the pain is motivation to improve future decision-making.  Note that not all pain is the result of bad decisions—many bad things are unavoidable.  Disease, mental and physical, is often random or hereditary.  Many car wrecks are the fault of OTHER folks’ mistakes, not the injured party.  Most domestic issues are not due to a choice—no one chooses their abusive parent or relative.  People do not willingly opt to be the victim of criminality.  But let’s focus on the results-oriented problems, those that are the accumulation of choices made.

Some pain is financial, some personal, some a bit more indirect—like the decision to vote or not, or whom to vote for.  As an example, some folks have bemoaned the decisions made by mayors or Governors of respective States, as responses to handle the COVID-19 pandemic; others are greatly impacted by the decisions made by those same mayors and Governors regarding actions taken during the George Floyd protests and riots.  Everything from excessive (in my opinion) lock-downs, to preventing church and funeral services, to giving stand-down orders to law enforcement during those protests and riots.  Those that agree with the decisions made have elected the leadership they wanted.  But those unhappy with the policies enacted?  Either they did not vote, or didn’t get enough voting volume in their respective locales to get a different leader.  Some may have been blind-sided by those elected, not knowing or understanding the methodology of the decision-maker until it was too late.  If they are in a constant voting minority, they may need to make the bigger decision to live elsewhere, where decisions are made much more in alignment with their own priorities.  Those that feel that where they live is far more important than whom they elect, have made their decision, and are forced to live with those consequences.

Likewise, many businesses now have choices to make:  do they stay in cities that will knowingly pull back police protection in riot conditions, endangering their business, property, customers, and employees?  Do they remain in areas that willingly decrease or re-allocate police budgets elsewhere, or even consider disbanding police entirely?  Do they like their city so much, that they will rebuild their looted and damaged businesses, risking their capital again?  Or do they relocate to more business-friendly, law-and-order type communities?

If the results of poor decision-making were NOT impactful (no pain), we wouldn’t care what we decided, nor would we put more effort into future decisions, hoping for better outcomes.  Learning from bad choices may be painful, but it is the pain that makes us do better next time.  We hope.  Some go by the old adage: “I never make the same mistake twice—I do it SEVERAL times, just to make sure!”

What If…

Jan 22, 2021 Commentary, General, Immigration, Law Enforcement, Opinion, Political

If you are like me, and you probably sometimes are, you go thru life with many preconceived notions and assumptions.  Introduced by friends and family, reinforced by school, TV, movies, and our own experiences, we have certain ‘givens’ in life that we rely upon to try to understand a very complicated world.  But what if they are all or mostly wrong?  Let’s dig.

What we are taught in elementary school is likely our bedrock for more assumptions.  Our history, how current events impact us, the roles of many people in society, all have the opportunity to be learned here.  What do police do?  Firemen?  Doctors?  Congressmen and Presidents?  Judges?  Lawyers?  While some of these may be discussed at home (depending upon the home), most are introduced in school, in one form or another.  If your teacher or teachers were pro-cop, you would get entirely different views than if your instructor(s) were anti-cop.  And so on.

Some of my assumptions were about how systems work in the US:  police, law, courts, elections, military, Congress, virtually everyone in elected or appointed roles in US society.  Speaking entirely for myself, I always assumed that checks and balances were in place in ALL of these systems to prevent criminal behavior by those folks in those roles.  Sure, some folks of every position stretched the rules, and benefited personally by those stretches.  But I always assumed that the overwhelming majority were honorable people, doing their part in society to keep things running.  But what if ALL of those assumptions are flat-out wrong?  What if the systems are inherently broken, by the past and present office holders, and because of their control over those systems, they will NEVER be fixed?

What if Congress has nothing to do with representing ANYONE but Congressmen?  The rest is pure marketing.  What if the courts are so complicit in the malfeasance, that they rule however they want, to protect the entire elected and appointed class?  Boat rockers and folks with integrity are shooed away, or absorbed into the cabal.  Once elected, they are shown the REAL deal:  do it our way, or you will be an army of one, with zero assistance from anyone in the system.  What if the police only superficially enforce the law, and only how and where their chain of command dictates?  The same may hold true for the military, just on a much larger scale. What if wars are fought just to advance the fortunes of the defense contracting companies, with appropriate kickbacks to those elected folks again?

You may ask:  Dude, what makes you think so negatively about these things?  The riots and mayhem over the Summer started the crack in my mental veneer.  Then, the recent elections process, coupled by the omnibus spending bill, made me think that no systems appear to be working as advertised—certainly not to the benefit of the taxpaying citizen.

Tags: Systems

Crazy Times

Jan 20, 2021 Commentary, General, Immigration, Law Enforcement, Opinion, Satire, Tyranny

Are you a ‘normal, red-blooded American’?  Are you tired of every single problem, real or imagined, in the country blamed on you?  Are you up-to-here with being called racist, homophobic, xenophobic, sexist, patriarchic, deplorable, or whatever the Liberals decide is an appropriate description of you (even though they don’t know you at all)?  Have you had enough of ‘learning’ that the United States of America was not only BUILT upon slavery, but slavery is the only reason for its existence?  Or maybe your ears will bleed if you hear one more time that rich, White, European business tycoons get wealthy or extend their current wealth on the backs of the poor and destitute of all races here?  Have you been told that everything from math to proper English, to Climate Change, is the result of racism?  I may have an answer to all of the above!  Let’s dig.

First, please understand that I am aware that what I am about to propose is an insane idea.  That, had I not been mentally abused by the nonsense in the first paragraph for literally decades, I wouldn’t have ever entertained such nutty policy suggestions.  I hail as a Constitutional Conservative, very much right-of-center politically.  I’m normally a live-and-let live guy—almost Libertarian in thought.  Other than protecting children, I think most people should have the opportunity to screw up their lives in whatever method they choose, so long as it doesn’t infringe on the rights or property of others.  On the other hand, I feel very strongly that, if I’m going to be constantly accused of some crime, regardless of lack of evidence of said crime—or even if I have exculpatory evidence that I absolutely did NOT do the crime, I am going to DO THE CRIME!  If I’m guilty and will incur punishment either way, might as well!  So, I have a radical idea:  take the Liberals’ accusations to heart.

Therefore, effective immediately, we should turn the US into the country the Liberals think we already are.  Pendulums swing, and it is time to swing that bad boy in the opposite direction than its current path!  As stated above, the US is accused of being so many awful things, so it is time to implement that which we are already guilty of, by our critics!

Dissenting opinions will be tolerated—once.  You get your say, as our 1^st Amendment allows for.  But once stated, anything further is just agitation.  We, as a country, don’t want it, don’t need it, and it serves no positive purpose.  So, such opinions are now reason for the Ejection Clause below.

Calls for ‘racial equity’ end NOW.  This is a meritocracy, and will continue to be so.  Anyone wishing to give preferential treatment to any particular race will be subject to the Ejection Clause below.  Note that all minorities are still welcome in the US—as are all productive people.  Those that make a living by perpetuating the sins of the distant and near past are no longer welcome.  Take that particular show on the road.  Anywhere but here.

All history textbooks that depict the US as a country founded upon racism and genocide are GONE.  No problem telling the story of the US as a factual presentation, but adding the author’s opinions, based on current modes of morality and society, is not only erroneous, it paints the US in a poor, incorrect light.  It stops now.  Authors of said view will be subject to the Ejection Clause below.

The US has carried able, non-productive people for decades, via our Social Safety Net.  This ends now.  While we will continue to provide assistance for people in-between jobs, it will no longer be a lifestyle.  If you are able to work, you will work—or be assigned work.  Don’t like the assigned work?  Get a job in a role you like.  All Welfare and unemployment compensation will have an end date.  Unemployment will be issued based upon real attempts to become employed.  Past that date, person will be subject to Ejection Clause below.  Note that this section does not cover mentally or physically disabled people.  We will use funds recovered from the idle able to implement true care facilities for those that simply cannot function well in society alone.  And we will continue to honor our promises of Social Security to those that paid into the system.  We will provide food for children and those that need—not money.  We will distribute basic foods, relieving our surpluses.  Do not like the food available?  Get a job.  Anyone else, see Ejection Clause below.

Congress will return to its original boundaries and intentions.  All spending will only be allowed under Constitutional enumerated powers.  The position of Congressman will pay zero salary, with an appropriate expense account that is subject to audit by a citizen committee.  Violation of oath of office is terms for immediate office loss, and subject to criminal prosecution.  Income taxes will be replaced by a national sales tax.  Changing the sales tax rate requires a super-majority of States to ratify.  There is no longer a reason to field an IRS, other than to audit sales tax collections, and prevent black market avoidance of sales taxes.  There will no longer be a yearly tax filing for individuals—such private information is no longer shared with government.  Corporate income taxes, that are currently passed on to consumers, go away completely.  Since the ‘progressive income tax’ and ‘corporate income tax’ are gone, Congress no longer can play favorites with the tax code, also removing their ‘fundraising’ hammer.  Lobbyists will continue to be legal, via 1^st Amendment, but the first dollar that changes hands between lobbyist and Congressman is grounds for criminal prosecution of both parties.  ‘Redress of grievances’ will no longer be a monetary transaction.  Don’t like the new rules?  Don’t run for Congress.  Note:  voting will be with verifiable ID, in person.  The ONLY exceptions are deployed military and hospital patients.  Voting will occur from 7am to 7pm, local time zones, only on Election Day.  If it isn’t a priority to go to the polls, stay home.  Voting machines, if used, will only tabulate votes.  Any other function is an attempt to defraud that election, and will not be tolerated.  Every voting machine will pass an audit, and must retain all pertinent information for future analysis.

College professors will teach their subject matter.  Period.  Any attempt to insert political views where unwarranted will be grounds for Eject Clause below.  College degree programs will be indexed by anticipated income potential for each specialty.  Pre-med, pre-law, IT, engineering, etc. will be full tuition cost, but teaching degrees, and most degrees ending in ‘Studies’ will cost less, in anticipation of the degree holder’s ability to pay.  The entire Student Loan program will be reevaluated, top to bottom, every 10 years.

Public sector unions will disappear, effective immediately.  With no one representing the funder (taxpayer) at the bargaining table, these negotiations were always political stimulus.  Pay will be based upon performance, like any other job in the US.  Anyone attempting to change that environment will be subject to the Ejection Clause below.

Our immigration policy is now quite simple:  enter thru designated areas.  Folks who desire entry will be assessed physically for disease—those failing are denied entry.  They will be assessed for their work habits, desire to assimilate, and skill sets.  If there are unsatisfactory answers to those queries, they will be denied entry.  The US is not responsible for anyone outside of its borders, and we will decide who can come in.  Period.  Another new rule:  new immigrants will be put on a new database, with the sole purpose of verification of good citizenship.  In addition, new immigrants will NOT be eligible for any Welfare programs for 5 years, and will not be eligible to vote for 10 years.  Our Border Wall will be complete, and our temporary VISAs will be monitored.  Overstays and those that avoid proper procedure for entry will be subject to the Ejection Clause below.

The penal system will work into this process.  Career felons, with emphasis on those dangerous to society, will serve their sentences as prescribed.  Repeat offenders will be subject to the Ejection Clause below.  Minor offenses will not be dealt with as severely, but will be tracked for repetition.  Those that decide that rioting, looting, arson, and mayhem are appropriate methods of political protests will be immediately subject to the Ejection Clause below.

The Ejection Clause.  Mentioned many times above, this is the centerpiece of the new US, that will be run as heartless as it has been accused for decades.  Simply put, anyone subject to the Ejection Clause will have six months to get their affairs in order, then will be escorted out of the US.  Part of the six-month window will be to pick the country the person wishes to land in.  Paperwork to make that happen will be attempted.  If their first choice of country isn’t available (or doesn’t want them), the next available country will be chosen for them.  Once ejected, the person is forbidden to re-enter the US for 10 years, and even then, it is by application only.  All who are ejected get added to a new database.  Attempt to re-entry prior to or without application will put that person on a ‘do not allow’ list.  This entire process should make everyone happy.  The gist of the issue:  you don’t like the US, and how it is run; we don’t want you here.  Those here will contribute to the economy and advance the history and traditions of the US.  So, now we are the mean, whatever-phobic country that everyone accuses us of.  Except we will gladly allow anyone productive, of any physical or minority status, to prosper here.

Tags: US policy

Limited Government?

Jan 18, 2021 Commentary, General, Opinion, Political, Second Amendment

When what became known as the Constitutional Convention ended, the resulting document was an astounding piece of work.  The experiment of self-governance, not via family nobility, nor military might, began.  The US Constitution describes the structure of our government—three co-equal branches (Executive, Legislative, and Judicial)—and most of the details of those branches.  How many of each Legislative office, length of terms, and so on.  But, IMHO, the most amazing aspect of that document is the attempt to limit the scope of the Federal government.  Let’s dig.

Article 1 of the Constitution defines the Congress—the Senate and the House of Representatives—and the rules under which each house operates.  Section 8 of Article 1 specifically delineates the powers of Congress:

“The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;

To borrow money on the credit of the United States;

To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes;

To establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States;

To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures;

To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United States;

To establish post offices and post roads;

To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries;

To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court;

To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offenses against the law of nations;

To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water;

To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years;

To provide and maintain a navy;

To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces;

To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions;

To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the militia, and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the United States, reserving to the states respectively, the appointment of the officers, and the authority of training the militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;

To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular states, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the government of the United States, and to exercise like authority over all places purchased by the consent of the legislature of the state in which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dockyards, and other needful buildings;–And

To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof.”

Now, several of these clauses have been ‘adjusted’ over time:  we now have standing Army, Navy, and other military branches, rather than calling forth a new militia as needed.

The first 10 Amendments to the Constitution are known collectively as the Bill of Rights. Every one of those Amendments limits what Congress can do—not the States, not the People.  Notice the form of each: “Congress shall make no law…”, “shall not be infringed’, “shall not be violated”.  That is specific language, expressly limiting what laws Congress can pass.

Note: The Constitutional Convention happened because of the complete failure of the Articles of Confederation, which allowed for a VERY weak Federal government. So the balancing act was between State autonomy and a Federal governing presence. The Federalist vs Anti-Federalist battle was a real conflict. It slept a bit during Washington’s term as President, but re-ignited during the 1800 election. And it really hasn’t gone away, although the Civil War seemed to cement the Federalist position.

Second Note: Note that I am not mentioning the States at all. States should be free to experiment with whatever level of taxation and benefits that the citizens of that State wish to pursue. If I live in a State that does not align with my values, I am free to decide for myself if I stay or leave. But the size and scope of the FEDERAL government has exploded exponentially, since 1913 (Income Tax), thru 1930s (New Deal), thru 1964 (Medicare/Medicaid), all the way thru 2010 (Obamacare). Don’t like it? You’d need to leave the entire country. And I think a legal case could be made for ALL of these programs exceed Congressional authority.

Now for the direct question of this writing:  how much power do we WANT Congress to have?  By everything referenced above, Congress was to be limited to writing laws within the specific ‘enumerated powers’.  Yet today, Congress routinely writes laws far outside of that original scope.  Social Security, Welfare (part of the Social Security Act), Obamacare, minimum wage laws, any law regarding commerce within a State, are all laws written by Congress that exceed the original limits of Article 1.  And most of the Bill of Rights is under stress by current or proposed legislation, be it ‘hate speech’, restrictions on gun ownership, or stretching ‘search and seizure’ rules.  But is this what the People want?  Be careful here.  As the famous quote states, “Any government that can give you anything you want can take anything you have.”

Tags: Scope of government

The Banana Republic of America

Jan 16, 2021 Opinion, Political

I love the United States and would give my life defending her against all enemies, foreign and domestic. I took an oath to do that and the oath expires when I do. But my country is looking more and more like a banana republic than the shining light upon the hill.

We have upwards of 30,000 members of the US military in Washington DC to protect Chairman Xiden and the special people who will attend his anointing. The mayhem that took place at the Capitol on 6 January by paid instigators has given the totalitarians the opportunity to bring in all kinds of firepower to protect a man who is unaware of what is going on around him. Remember, Joe Xiden suffers from dementia. He is able to hide his own Easter Eggs. I heard a guy say each day Xiden wakes up he looks in the obituaries to see if he is still alive.

The point is Xiden was propped up as a guy who could bring the country together and heal divides. Folks, Xiden can’t even ties his own shoes. He is a puppet and Harris will be behind the scenes as the de facto president. Though right now it looks like she will be busy sitting in the Senate to break ties. As an aside, I doubt she will need to break many ties with people like Romney, Murkowski and Collins there will be few, if any ties. I would like to be wrong but they will roll over and give in. The Republicans have few people who will actually fight.

That is why the people like Donald J Trump. He fights and he is not afraid of a tussle. Democrats don’t like that because they want their Republicans well heeled. Do as they wish and they will let you keep getting rich off taxpayers. But they will shiv you in a New York City second. The minute they can take your seat they will boot you to the ground. Trump showed them what resistance was. Many Republicans in Congress could not handle it because they have been subservient for so long they could not understand they should fight. This is why a limp wristed noodle like Romney voted to convict in the first impeachment and why 10 Republican Congress critters voted for impeachment in the grudge impeachment last week. Most Republicans in Congress lack the rugged individualism that defined our Founders and they do not have the strength or courage to exert themselves for the benefit of constituents. Democrats are anti American and always put the country, its needs and its citizens LAST.

So here we are. Antifa and other paid agitators stormed the Capitol and the Democrats blamed Trump and his supporters and impeached the president in a measure straight out of a banana republic. No evidence, no hearing just here is the article, you are impeached wham bam thank you ma’am.

We continue with the banana republic as troops by the tens of thousands roll into DC for the anointing, an event people were told not to attend. It is possible we will have more armed military at the anointing than citizens attending. All Chairman Xiden needs to do is show up in his dictator uniform with the big panel shoulder boards and all the gold lettuce leaves around them with a huge saucer cap and he can tell us how the free and fair election (a common phrase among the left’s media propaganda wing) allowed a man who failed twice, dropping once due to plagiarism, became president. He can regale us with stories about how a man who spent nearly his entire campaign in the basement of his home and whose limited events had tens of people was able to win. He can tell us how a kid from Scranton who faced down Corn Pop while little kids felt the hair on his legs rose up to beat a man who had the most successful four year term in history.

Chairman Xiden can then say how he wants to unite us after four years of his party dividing us by attacking the duly elected president with a nonstop barrage of BS charges. He will say all the right things but the thinking people will know that the election was fraudulent, that the machines were rigged and that low level people at all the places it counted, cheated to make sure Trump did not win.

In this banana republic, like all others, they will tell you to believe their words instead of your lying eyes and that a putz from Scranton, a man who spent 47 years in government without accomplishing anything good, who is on the take from China, who can’t remember where he is or what he is doing or who his wife is and who touches children inappropriately had the most votes in history and even more than the first black guy to run and the first woman to run.

And many people will still believe it because in a banana republic you listen to dear leader or you disappear.

It is time for the citizenry to resist Xiden and his minions. It is time to make sure they pay for what they did. I declare the 20th of January Donald Trump Day (what day is it?). Take off work and let the left figure out how to run things. Resist all things Democrats dictate from mask and vaccine mandates to illegal immigration.

Resist and let them decide if it is worth the fight.

[If you are a subscriber reply to the email so I know you got it!]

#FAFO
ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ
Cave canem!
Never surrender, never submit.

Tags: Trump Day, Xiden