Thanks to DLP for passing on the link to Jobforjohn.com. This reminds me of a fallacy that has grown in popularity of late among the attention span-challenged set: that tax cuts somehow hurt the economy.

Could someone, anyone, explain to me how this works? Is your money in the hands of the federal govt. making your life better? If so, why? The truth, of course, is that liberals loooovvvveeee tax money because the programs it pays for keep them in power. It also helps them play the class-warfare card, ensuring that those who are too ignorant to think for themselves believe that punishing success will "even things up."

My favorite oversized waste of resources, Michael Moore, gets some column-inches at Opinion Journal. It’s a pretty long piece, but here’s my favorite snippet:


“And you can be sure that the trendy sophisticates in Cannes and Hollywood will once again rise to their feet to honor their mendacious auteur, European intellectuals will bow before his Manichaean simplicities, and the international radical left will cheer the moral obtuseness of the man who has made his fortune turning the documentary into fiction.”


Piss off, Mikey.



My favorite off-the-cuff comment from Bob Hope occurred in 1968 while he was touring South Vietnam. After taking the stage, Hope was told that there was an Air Force colonel in the audience who was the top-ranking American ace of the war so far. Without missing a beat, Hope said, “And I would like to acknowledge the presence of Colonel So-and-So, who is the leading distributor of MiG parts in Vietnam.”

Holy Shit! There are still active Cargo Cults in the South Pacific. How can this be? For God's sake, World War Two ended almost sixty years ago! We've sent space probes all over the Solar System! I can pick up my cell phone and call Tokyo if I want! Cargo Cults? Jon Frum, come back and put these people out of their misery!

The Korean War ended fifty years ago yesterday. I remember my father telling me one time about his visit home after his first tour off the coast of North Korea. He was talking to a friend of his father's when the man asked, "So where have you been?". Dad answered, "We went to Japan and then patrolled off the coast of North Korea." The man replied, "I didn't know that war was still going on over there." It really was the forgotten war, even while it was still going on.

I read that Uday Hussein's briefcase has been found. Evidently it contained some cash, clean underwear, one condom, Viagra and cologne. WTF? Was he on his way to an orgy?

Speaking of people who would be better off living in another dimension, some reporter in the White House press pool asked the new White House spokesman (don't remember his name): "Don't you think that the Hussein brothers should've have been taken alive?" My answer would've been: "Don't you mean how many Americans should've died to capture them alive? Well, the answer is none. In fact, we had plans to carry them around the streets in cages and then beat them to death with their own genitals, but that just didn't work out. Well, there's always dear old dad. Next question."

Anti-Catholic bigotry, alive and well in our Senate. Where are the Catholic bishops in this country? If Pryor were Jewish or Muslim, there would be an enormous outcry. But our bishops, smug in their positions, do nothing while “pro-abortion” Catholics (there really is no such thing) like Ted Kennedy runs rampant and win votes because of their religious affiliation. Of course, elitist silence is nothing new.


When the sex abuse scandal first became public news in this country, my first thought was, “There’s going to be a house-cleaning”. In my mind, justice would have been served if every bishop who had ever been aware of a priest’s crimes and NOT turned him over to civil authorities had been fired. After all, the Catholic Church is not supposed to be run like the Mafia; the ancient code of Omerta does not apply. But what happened? Virtually nothing. Now, the best thing that could happen to the Catholic Church is a grass-roots uprising and a demand for accountability. But it will never happen. It’s all about money and getting butts in the seats.

Uday and Qusay are dead. It couldn’t have happened to two nicer guys. This may sound crude, but I believe it would be appropriate to display their bodies publicly; kind of a “if we can get these guys, we can get anyone” message. Bastards.



“Unaware that a live microphone was broadcasting their words around the Capitol, Assembly Democrats meeting behind closed doors debated prolonging California's budget crisis for political gain.

Members of the coalition of liberal Democrats talked about slowing progress on the budget as a means of increasing pressure on Republicans.

A microphone had been left on during the closed meeting Monday, and the conversation was transmitted to about 500 "squawk boxes" that enable staff members, lobbyists and reporters to listen in on legislative meetings.

Some members of the group, including Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg, said if the budget crisis were extended, it could improve chances for a ballot initiative that would make it easier for the Democrats to raise taxes by lowering the threshold for passage from two-thirds to 55 percent.

"No one is running" for re-election, she said, according to a transcript made by Republicans. "And maybe you end up better off than you would have, and maybe you don't. But what you do is show people that you can't get to this without a 55 percent vote."

From sfgate.com. Oh yeah, they’re the party for the working man. Uhuh. Wake up.



Doesn’t this cat look like a smartass? You can just tell he’s getting ready to give his owner some lip.

Like it or not, California often serves as a guinea pig for things that have not yet propagated to the rest of the country. The current Gray Davis recall effort is no exception. However, I believe this is one trend that could potentially be damaging to our nation for generations.


For those of you who don’t know, Gray Davis is the current governor of California. I will say now that he is perhaps the least qualified and least intelligent person to ever hold the office (I’ll consider Jerry Brown, but you’ll have to bring proof---Davis was Brown’s chief of staff, by the way). Davis’ poll numbers are about as low as they can go, making even the most forgiving Democrats back away from him. Now, there is a movement afoot to have a recall; that is, a special election to determine whether or not Davis remains in office. If Davis loses the vote, he is cast out of office and another election is held to determine who gets to live in Sacramento. This process is not new for the Left Coast as Ronald Reagan (yes, THAT Ronald Reagan) survived a recall attempt in 1968 while he was governor. Some, but not all, of the states have recall laws on the books. Those who support them say that these laws exist to give the populace the ability to remove someone from office who proves to be incapable of continuing in the job for whatever non-criminal reason (impeachment laws exist to address criminal issues).


But I believe a recall, even of someone like Gray Davis, is always a bad, bad idea. Consider that only about 28% of eligible voters vote, on average, in any election. On the other hand, any adult who lives in the state in question can sign a recall petition. Why should you blow off an election and then have the right to force a recall? In my opinion, bad politicians who win elections should serve as a warning to all of us to do a better job of becoming and staying informed. I would be willing to bet that half of all elected officials in this country (local, state and federal) would not survive a recall attempt. It’s an invitation to anarchy.



Kobe Bryant cheated on his wife. This makes him a bad father and husband; it doesn’t make him a criminal. But, even if the “victim’s” story falls apart, his career and reputation will be tarnished forever. Is there any justice in that?



Note to G.W.: Please, please stay out of Liberia. First, that entire shithole of a nation isn’t worth one American soldier, Marine, airman or sailor’s life. Second, sending troops in there is asking them to be willing to shoot children with guns. How many Americans could do that?

I just finished watching a replay of the commissioning ceremony for the USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76). It was the United States Navy with all the pomp and circumstance it can muster. Nancy was there in the place of her husband who can no longer travel. The Reagan is the only ship ever named after a living President. My guess (and it’s only that) is that they did not expect him to be alive when the ship was finished. I know that sounds heartless, but the name was decided almost a decade ago when the ship was still on the drawing board. The same thing happened when the navy commissioned the first of the Arleigh Burke-class guided missle destroyers in 1992. Burke had served during World War Two and had been CNO during the 1950’s. In 1992, he was still alive and about 127 years old. It was almost pitiful.


One of the traditions that occurs when a new ship-of-the-line is commissioned is the command to “man the ship and bring her alive” (that’s the command, word-for-word). At that command, the crew runs up the gangplank(s) and mans the railing, turns on the radar, sounds sirens, etc. to signify that the ship is ready to roll. With a destroyer or cruiser, this is quick and orderly process. With an aircraft carrier, it takes some time. I can imagine running up flight after flight of ladders in my dress whites (which are made of Certified Naval Twill-----polyester) only to stand by the rail while someone 500 levels above my pay grade spouts on about how wonderful the new ship is. The only ship I was ever on for any length of time never left the pier and had been commissioned before I was born. I did get to see a de-commissioning once; it was the USS MacDounough (DDG-39) which was turned over to the Greek Navy. If you have ever seen Greek sailors, you may understand why it was not a great time. “Smelly” just doesn’t do the situation justice.

Today in the year 64A.D., a great fire erupted in Rome. It would burn on for a week, destroying almost two-thirds of the city (I would imagine that fire-fighting was not a fine art in those days). This was the fire that spawned the legend about Nero fiddling. In reality, Nero wasn’t even in Rome during the fire and the violin wasn’t invented until much later. Be that as it may, Nero took the opportunity to have Rome re-built in a more orderly Greek fashion. That’s right: the columns and wide vistas of Rome that we all imagine were borrowed. Nero also thought it would be a good idea to blame the fire on those pesky Christians he kept hearing so much about and started the first series of persecutions in the early Church.


I came up with this great book idea one time about a race of beings who conquer the Earth and, to make things easier for us to understand, adopt the rank structure used by the Roman legions. They also make us adopt a common language (English), which ends up being their downfall. With a common language and a common enemy, mankind realizes that our internal differences are minor. Thus, mankind unites to fight the aliens and usher in an era of peace. Problem is, I could probably crank out the story in 50,000 words or less, which is more the length of a ‘New Yorker’ article than a book.



By the way, I know that I haven’t been commenting on politics much lately. The world scene of late depresses me and I have been trying to step away from it a little, something that I haven’t done since the election debacle in Florida in 2000. In fact, I have taken to listening to sports talk shows instead of my normal evening line-up. It’s not that I am changing my views; it’s more that I am sooooo tired of people who understand so little about politics, the military, foreign policy, etc. trying to tell me (and the world) how Iraq is a quagmire and that our President is a liar. Neither is true and people without agendas who know the score realize that. I have just reached the point that I can’t stomach the whiney, lip-biting pansies who litter the airwaves and the printed page at such places as CNN, NPR, The New York Times, The LA Times and the like. It’s beginning to smell like 1968 in here.

This morning, if it's clear where you are, you will see that the moon and Mars are practically on top of each other. I don't know what the astronomical term for this is, but it looks like Mars is serving as a running light for the moon. In an earlier age, I would be dancing around the fire, preparing to sacrifice something to the harvest god. Or the fertility god. I forget.

I have historically had a dim view of my fellow man. I don't consider most people very loyal, moral or intelligent. This is elitist and not particularly true. Today, I was reminded again that there are people in all of our lives who have a clue about what it means to stand up for what is right and noble. I am disappointed in myself when I don't see this quality in people from the outset. I think it reminds me that I am very much my father's son; I always assume I'm in a minefield.

Sometimes you have to step back from a situation and ask yourself, “Why am I doing this? Why do I care?” In my life, I haven’t done that nearly enough. As a result, I have found myself in difficult situations in which people had certain expectations that I couldn’t fulfill. Tonight, I was thinking of a friend of a friend who used to ask, “What did you do today to move closer to your goal?”. My answer, right now, is this: nothing. I am plodding along, pissing away my time at pursuits that do nothing for me, my wife or our life together. And, just like you, I’m dying a minute at a time. I can do better.


Between January and August of 2001 I wrote a book. It’s not a very good book, but it’s all mine. No publisher wanted it, so I filed it with my other writings and moved on. But now, when I look back, I realize how fulfilled I felt while I was writing it. It became a passion and, perhaps more importantly, it put a little discipline into a life that normally has very little. And so, starting Monday, I will begin on my second book. I probably only have one or two more books in me, but I believe this one may have an audience. It’s about love and loss and truth and the times that try men’s souls. And it’s not about me or anyone I know; in fact, it’s a work of total fiction. Watch this space.

Please read all of this:


“Crises there will continue to be. In meeting them, whether foreign or domestic, great or small, there is a recurring temptation to feel that some spectacular and costly action could become the miraculous solution to all current difficulties. A huge increase in newer elements of our defense; development of unrealistic programs to cure every ill in agriculture; a dramatic expansion in basic and applied research -- these and many other possibilities, each possibly promising in itself, may be suggested as the only way to the road we wish to travel.

But each proposal must be weighed in the light of a broader consideration: the need to maintain balance in and among national programs -- balance between the private and the public economy, balance between cost and hoped for advantage -- balance between the clearly necessary and the comfortably desirable; balance between our essential requirements as a nation and the duties imposed by the nation upon the individual; balance between actions of the moment and the national welfare of the future. Good judgment seeks balance and progress; lack of it eventually finds imbalance and frustration.

The record of many decades stands as proof that our people and their government have, in the main, understood these truths and have responded to them well, in the face of stress and threat. But threats, new in kind or degree, constantly arise. I mention two only.

IV.

A vital element in keeping the peace is our military establishment. Our arms must be mighty, ready for instant action, so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction.

Our military organization today bears little relation to that known by any of my predecessors in peacetime, or indeed by the fighting men of World War II or Korea.

Until the latest of our world conflicts, the United States had no armaments industry. American makers of plowshares could, with time and as required, make swords as well. But now we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense; we have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions. Added to this, three and a half million men and women are directly engaged in the defense establishment. We annually spend on military security more than the net income of all United States corporations.

This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence -- economic, political, even spiritual -- is felt in every city, every State house, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society.

In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the militaryindustrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.

We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.

Akin to, and largely responsible for the sweeping changes in our industrial-military posture, has been the technological revolution during recent decades.

In this revolution, research has become central; it also becomes more formalized, complex, and costly. A steadily increasing share is conducted for, by, or at the direction of, the Federal government.

Today, the solitary inventor, tinkering in his shop, has been overshadowed by task forces of scientists in laboratories and testing fields. In the same fashion, the free university, historically the fountainhead of free ideas and scientific discovery, has experienced a revolution in the conduct of research. Partly because of the huge costs involved, a government contract becomes virtually a substitute for intellectual curiosity. For every old blackboard there are now hundreds of new electronic computers.

The prospect of domination of the nation's scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present

and is gravely to be regarded.
Yet, in holding scientific research and discovery in respect, as we should, we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientifictechnological elite.

It is the task of statesmanship to mold, to balance, and to integrate these and other forces, new and old, within the principles of our democratic system -- ever aiming toward the supreme goals of our free society. “


The above is from Dwight Eisenhower’s farewell speech to the nation in January, 1961. Forty-two years ago. Did he know something about groups so large that he did not address their threat until the night before he left office?

Check out the 1:45PM PST post on Hugh Hewitt's website. Just reading his summary will tell you all you need to know. There are still heroes among us.

Reading the above story made me think about the news media today. Here is a story about true heroism, buried on in the center of the LA Times. I can forgive some of this because, well, it is an LA paper, but this kind of subconscious censorship goes on everywhere. In this age of the 24 hour news cycle, it's as if every front page story must be sensational and/or bad news. Cases in point: OJ, Jon Benet Ramsey, Chandra Levy, Elian Gonzales. None of these stories had any relavance on the national scene, but they were all front page news for weeks or, in the OJ case, years. Is this what the American public wants to see and hear?

This led me to another thought that may explain the liberalism that is rampant in the mainstream media: liberalism thrives on bad news. When a family is doing well, or the economy is good, the huge government expenditures and silly laws championed by liberals are unnecessary. But if the news at least appears to be bad all the time, liberal ideas maintain a foothold in our society. So which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Sunday night I mentioned that my manager is an idiot. First, I wish to announce that I will now just refer to him as “boss” because the term “manager” implies that he actually manages something and/or knows what the hell is going on.


I won’t go into the sorted details here because, frankly, it’s technical and no one but me really gives a shit that the description record in the laser check application had been modified, the code was no longer readable and I had to restore to a month-old copy that didn’t recognize any of the new clients and, in the process, bypass the password database file (I’m pretty proud of that little piece of work) so I could access the old software. I knew you didn’t care.


So how, you might be wondering, did things get so messed up? One word: boss. My Harley-riding, backwoods, obnoxious, assholish, sexist, racist, needs-shock-therapy, unholy hell of a boss caused the entire thing by messing with the software and then deciding that, holy shit batman, it’s four in the afternoon on a Friday and I need to go. So he told our daytime PC support guy to restore the application and LEFT FOR THE WEEKEND. The restore didn’t contain all the files that yours truly needs to do his job and “poof”, I’m sweating it out all on my own on a Saturday morning. I did eventually call boss, but only to get access to a file that I should have had access to anyway.


There’s a lesson here: incompetence rules. I now understand that boss leaves me in these predicaments because he knows that a) I’ll fix it and b) I have no one to tell who doesn’t already know what he’s like. My experience has damned me. So, for the sake of my own sanity, I have to figure out a way to make him leave. I have only done this once before in my life and the target was psychologically weaker. Boss really, really doesn’t care, which actually helps him and hurts me. If he was worried about professional humiliation in front of peers (as the last guy was), I could make him retire tomorrow. But he is in a position of authority without any apparent responsibility. I may have to call in bigger minds to advise me.

I love late-night radio. The disposition of the callers goes from bored (truck drivers) to weirdo (we didn't go to the moon; I talk to yellow jackets). What is amazing is the fact that these people all function in our society. Now, as I type this, there is a guy talking about how the movie 'T3' is going to happen soon. That's why he moved out to the woods. WAKE UP BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE!!!


My manager is an idiot. More on this later.

The Scopes-Monkey Trial began today in 1925. I won’t go into all the details here; if you graduated from high school in this country, you know the story. Suffice it to say that it was the first big showdown between fundamentalists and hard science. The argument continues today in different forms, but the elements remain the same: the bible is the direct word of God versus an essentially godless crowd who hold on to theories as undeniable truths.


Here’s a theory, and it’s all mine: maybe evolution (human and universal) is all part of God’s creation. Consider that in the book of Genesis the universe was dark before the creation. Now, if you believe in the “big bang” theory, then you know that the universe really was cold and dark for a few million years while everything congealed to the point where fusion could take place. Without solar fusion, there is NO natural light and no planet formation. How would you go about explaining nuclear fusion to people who worshipped snakes? You don’t; you create a week-long creation pageant and weave it into a larger morality tale explaining the sinful nature of man and justifying why it was OK to treat women like cattle.


The larger question, I guess, is why does this not make sense to fundamentalists (note that I don’t use the word “Christian” here because I have my doubts)? Could it be about control? Hmmmmmmmm....


By the way, I have changed my e-mail address but have not had a chance to change it on the Blogger template, so if you have e-mailed me since the end of June please re-send; my old address now gets forwarded to my new one. Thanks.

I read with some interest yesterday (sorry I no longer have the link) about a girl in Moorestown, NJ who, along with her father, is suing the school district because they proclaimed “co-“ valedictorians in her Senior class---her and a young man whose grade point average was several hundreths of a percent lower than her own. While the school district acknowledged that the girl did receive a higher grade point average, the young man had to take several classes that the girl was not required to take. These classes were not weighted as heavily, and so the small discrepancy existed.


I could argue this case either way and feel satisfied. What bothers me is the larger issue contained therein: how far parents will push their children to be “winners” in life. I am becoming more and more aware of this sickness in our society, maybe only because so many of my generation have children who are nearing school age. I have lost count of how many times I have heard statements like “I want him/her to go to do really well in school so, you know, they can go to a better college.” Ironically, many of the people saying this never went to college or went to a (GASP!) state school.


Let’s flash back to 1989. The valedictorian and salutatorian of my high school graduating class were named Kathy and Todd. I don’t remember who held which title (as if it matters now). Both of them gave non-memorable speeches, although Kathy did say something about little fish and big fish. It was all very nice. I got really, really drunk later and yelled at my ex-girlfriend at a party in the Knobs.


Now, let’s move forward to 1999. Both Kathy and Todd are at our 10-year reunion. Kathy is a, umm, doctor, I think. I mean this in all seriousness; she was so banal I couldn’t talk to her. Todd was the picture-perfect corporate alpha-male. I avoided him totally. So who did I talk to all night? Teddy, the guy who sat next to me at our graduation and did so poorly in school that he had to take summer classes AFTER our Senior year. But Teddy did OK; he sold vacuum cleaners or something door-to-door and then started hauling a rock-climbing wall around to county fairs and such in Georgia. He was the most interesting guy in the room because he had actually known hardship, loss and victory. He cycled across the entire continent with his father one summer. He was and is, in all the ways that should matter, a success. But I know, deep in my soul, that many of the people there that night would have scoffed at Teddy because he didn’t have a degree or know the right people or belong to a country club. And they would have been poorer for it.

I don’t often copy entire news articles into the blog; I prefer just to give you the link and let you go on your own. However, the article below struck such a chord in me that I believe I must place it here in its entirety. This is from the San Francisco Chronicle from Sunday, June 29, 2003. Enjoy:



“America is under attack as never before -- not only from terrorists but also from people who provide a justification for terrorism. Islamic fundamentalists declare America the Great Satan. Europeans rail against American capitalism and American culture. South American activists denounce the United States for "neocolonialism" and oppression.

Anti-Americanism from abroad would not be such a problem if Americans were united in standing up for their own country. But in this country itself, there are those who blame America for most of the evils in the world. On the political left, many fault the United States for a history of slavery, and for continuing inequality and racism. Even on the right, traditionally the home of patriotism, we hear influential figures say that America has become so decadent that we are "slouching towards Gomorrah."

If these critics are right, then America should be destroyed. And who can dispute some of their particulars? This country did have a history of slavery and racism continues to exist. There is much in our culture that is vulgar and decadent. But the critics are wrong about America, because they are missing the big picture. In their indignation over the sins of America, they ignore what is unique and good about American civilization.

As an immigrant who has chosen to become an American citizen, I feel especially qualified to say what is special about America. Having grown up in a different society -- in my case, Bombay, India -- I am not only able to identify aspects of America that are invisible to the natives, but I am acutely conscious of the daily blessings that I enjoy in America. Here, then, is my list of the 10 great things about America.


-- America provides an amazingly good life for the ordinary guy. Rich people live well everywhere. But what distinguishes America is that it provides an impressively high standard of living for the "common man." We now live in a country where construction workers regularly pay $4 for a nonfat latte, where maids drive nice cars and where plumbers take their families on vacation to Europe.

Indeed, newcomers to the United States are struck by the amenities enjoyed by "poor" people. This fact was dramatized in the 1980s when CBS television broadcast a documentary, "People Like Us," intended to show the miseries of the poor during an ongoing recession. The Soviet Union also broadcast the documentary, with a view to embarrassing the Reagan administration. But by the testimony of former Soviet leaders, it had the opposite effect. Ordinary people across the Soviet Union saw that the poorest Americans have TV sets, microwave ovens and cars. They arrived at the same perception that I witnessed in an acquaintance of mine from Bombay who has been unsuccessfully trying to move to the United States. I asked him, "Why are you so eager to come to America?" He replied, "I really want to live in a country where the poor people are fat."



-- America offers more opportunity and social mobility than any other country, including the countries of Europe. America is the only country that has created a population of "self-made tycoons." Only in America could Pierre Omidyar, whose parents are Iranian and who grew up in Paris, have started a company like eBay. Only in America could Vinod Khosla, the son of an Indian army officer, become a leading venture capitalist, the shaper of the technology industry, and a billionaire to boot. Admittedly tycoons are not typical, but no country has created a better ladder than America for people to ascend from modest circumstances to success.



-- Work and trade are respectable in America. Historically most cultures have despised the merchant and the laborer, regarding the former as vile and corrupt and the latter as degraded and vulgar. Some cultures, such as that of ancient Greece and medieval Islam, even held that it is better to acquire things through plunder than through trade or contract labor. But the American founders altered this moral hierarchy. They established a society in which the life of the businessman, and of the people who worked for him, would be a noble calling. In the American view, there is nothing vile or degraded about serving your customers either as a CEO or as a waiter. The ordinary life of production and supporting a family is more highly valued in the United States than in any other country. America is the only country in the world where we call the waiter "sir," as if he were a knight.

-- America has achieved greater social equality than any other society. True, there are large inequalities of income and wealth in America. In purely economic terms, Europe is more egalitarian. But Americans are socially more equal than any other people, and this is unaffected by economic disparities. Alexis de Tocqueville noticed this egalitarianism a century and a half ago and it is, if anything, more prevalent today. For all his riches, Bill Gates could not approach the typical American and say, "Here's a $100 bill. I'll give it to you if you kiss my feet." Most likely, the person would tell Gates to go to hell! The American view is that the rich guy may have more money, but he isn't in any fundamental sense better than anyone else

.

-- People live longer, fuller lives in America. Although protesters rail against the American version of technological capitalism at trade meetings around the world, in reality the American system has given citizens many more years of life, and the means to live more intensely and actively. In 1900, the life expectancy in America was around 50 years; today, it is more than 75 years. Advances in medicine and agriculture are mainly responsible for the change. This extension of the life span means more years to enjoy life, more free time to devote to a good cause, and more occasions to do things with the grandchildren. In many countries, people who are old seem to have nothing to do: they just wait to die. In America the old are incredibly vigorous, and people in their seventies pursue the pleasures of life, including remarriage and sexual gratification, with a zeal that I find unnerving.


-- In America the destiny of the young is not given to them, but created by them. Not long ago, I asked myself, "What would my life have been like if I had never come to the United States?" If I had remained in India, I would probably have lived my whole life within a five-mile radius of where I was born. I would undoubtedly have married a woman of my identical religious and socioeconomic background. I would almost certainly have become a medical doctor, or an engineer, or a computer programmer. I would have socialized entirely within my ethic community. I would have a whole set of opinions that could be predicted in advance; indeed, they would not be very different from what my father believed, or his father before him. In sum, my destiny would to a large degree have been given to me.

In America, I have seen my life take a radically different course. In college I became interested in literature and politics, and I resolved to make a career as a writer. I married a woman whose ancestry is English, French, Scotch-Irish, German and American Indian. In my twenties I found myself working as a policy analyst in the White House, even though I was not an American citizen. No other country, I am sure, would have permitted a foreigner to work in its inner citadel of government.

In most countries in the world, your fate and your identity are handed to you; in America, you determine them for yourself. America is a country where you get to write the script of your own life. Your life is like a blank sheet of paper, and you are the artist. This notion of being the architect of your own destiny is the incredibly powerful idea that is behind the worldwide appeal of America. Young people especially find irresistible the prospect of authoring the narrative of their own lives.


-- America has gone further than any other society in establishing equality of rights. There is nothing distinctively American about slavery or bigotry. Slavery has existed in virtually every culture, and xenophobia, prejudice and discrimination are worldwide phenomena. Western civilization is the only civilization to mount a principled campaign against slavery; no country expended more treasure and blood to get rid of slavery than the United States. While racism remains a problem, this country has made strenuous efforts to eradicate discrimination, even to the extent of enacting policies that give legal preference in university admissions, jobs, and government contracts to members of minority groups. Such policies remain controversial, but the point is that it is extremely unlikely that a racist society would have permitted such policies in the first place. And surely African Americans like Jesse Jackson are vastly better off living in America than they would be if they were to live in, say, Ethiopia or Somalia.


-- America has found a solution to the problem of religious and ethnic conflict that continues to divide and terrorize much of the world. Visitors to places like New York are amazed to see the way in which Serbs and Croatians, Sikhs and Hindus, Irish Catholics and Irish Protestants, Jews and Palestinians,

all seem to work and live together in harmony. How is this possible when these same groups are spearing each other and burning each other's homes in so many places in the world?

The American answer is twofold. First, separate the spheres of religion and government so that no religion is given official preference but all are free to practice their faith as they wish. Second, do not extend rights to racial or ethnic groups but only to individuals; in this way, all are equal in the eyes of the law, opportunity is open to anyone who can take advantage of it, and everybody who embraces the American way of life can "become American."

Of course there are exceptions to these core principles, even in America. Racial preferences are one such exception, which explains why they are controversial. But in general, America is the only country in the world that extends full membership to outsiders. The typical American could come to India,

live for 40 years, and take Indian citizenship. But he could not "become Indian." He wouldn't see himself that way, nor would most Indians see him that way. In America, by contrast, hundreds of millions have come from far-flung shores and over time they, or at least their children, have in a profound and full sense "become American."



-- America has the kindest, gentlest foreign policy of any great power in world history. Critics of the United States are likely to react to this truth with sputtering outrage. They will point to long-standing American support for a Latin or Middle Eastern despot, or the unjust internment of the Japanese during World War II, or America's reluctance to impose sanctions on South Africa's apartheid regime. However one feels about these particular cases, let us concede to the critics the point that America is not always in the right.

What the critics leave out is the other side of the ledger. Twice in the 20th century, the United States saved the world -- first from the Nazi threat, then from Soviet totalitarianism. What would have been the world's fate if America had not existed? After destroying Germany and Japan in World War II, the United States proceeded to rebuild both countries, and today they are American allies. Now we are doing the same thing in Afghanistan and Iraq. Consider, too, how magnanimous the United States has been to the former Soviet Union after its victory in the Cold War. For the most part America is an abstaining superpower; it shows no real interest in conquering and subjugating the rest of the world. (Imagine how the Soviets would have acted if they had won the Cold War.) On occasion the United States intervenes to overthrow a tyrannical regime or to halt massive human rights abuses in another country, but it never stays to rule that country. In Grenada, Haiti and Bosnia, the United States got in and then it got out. Moreover, when America does get into a war, as in Iraq, its troops are supremely careful to avoid targeting civilians and to minimize collateral damage. Even as America bombed the Taliban infrastructure and hideouts, U.S. planes dropped food to avert hardship and starvation of Afghan civilians. What other country does these things?



-- America, the freest nation on Earth, is also the most virtuous nation on Earth. This point seems counterintuitive, given the amount of conspicuous vulgarity, vice and immorality in America. Some Islamic fundamentalists argue that their regimes are morally superior to the United States because they seek to foster virtue among the citizens. Virtue, these fundamentalists argue, is a higher principle than liberty.

Indeed it is. And let us admit that in a free society, freedom will frequently be used badly. Freedom, by definition, includes the freedom to do good or evil, to act nobly or basely. But if freedom brings out the worst in people, it also brings out the best. The millions of Americans who live decent,

praiseworthy lives desire our highest admiration because they have opted for the good when the good is not the only available option. Even amid the temptations of a rich and free society, they have remained on the straight path. Their virtue has special luster because it is freely chosen.

By contrast, the societies that many Islamic fundamentalists seek would eliminate the possibility of virtue. If the supply of virtue is insufficient in a free society like America, it is almost nonexistent in an unfree society like Iran's. The reason is that coerced virtues are not virtues at all. Consider the woman who is required to wear a veil. There is no modesty in this,

because she is being compelled. Compulsion cannot produce virtue, it can only produce the outward semblance of virtue. Thus a free society like America's is not merely more prosperous, more varied, more peaceful, and more tolerant -- it is also morally superior to the theocratic and authoritarian regimes that America's enemies advocate.

"To make us love our country," Edmund Burke once said, "our country ought to be lovely." Burke's point is that we should love our country not just because it is ours, but also because it is good. America is far from perfect, and there is lots of room for improvement. In spite of its flaws, however, American life as it is lived today is the best life that our world has to offer. Ultimately America is worthy of our love and sacrifice because, more than any other society, it makes possible the good life, and the life that is good.”

Buddy Ebsen has died. He will always be, for most of us, Jed Clampett. 'The Beverly Hillbillies" is one of the shows from that era that I still find to be laugh out loud funny, even after seeing most of the episodes five or six times. It's hard to imagine that he was 95.

Speaking of old TV shows, I heard someone talking about 'Gilligan's Island' and the seven deadly sins. Maybe I'm out of touch, but has this theory been around for a while? It 's fun to consider, anyway.


As I age, I find myself laughing more and more (sometimes bitterly) at people who consider themselves to be authority figures. This tendency has become more obvious of late as I have become a participant in an online community. What's funny is that almost the entire leadership "caste" of this group is made up of individuals who, in the real world, do not hold or are incapable of holding real positions of leadership at a job or in their community. Ironically, it seems that those who desire power the most are the least qualified for the position. This is not always true, but my time in corporate America has shown me that true leaders are sought out by management and are often given responsibilities they did not seek. The people who always seek responsibility and power are often self-serving types who have no true sense of the world outside of themselves. If only our political system worked this way.

My intention, on the Fourth, was to post the entire Declaration of Independence. If you have never read the entire document, do yourself a favor and do so. There are many details which we never discuss today, but are interesting in hindsight. Well, if you're a history nerd.

Today in 1976, the first woman was admitted to the US Naval Academy. '76? That seems kind of late to me. I don't know if I mentioned this before, but my last Commanding Officer in the navy was a female Lieutenant Commander. In the early '90s, there were commands in the navy that could ONLY be filled by women. It was an attempt by the navy to give women a chance at command, since, at that time, women could not serve aboard ships-of-the-line (warships). Anyway, my CO was as useless as tits on a boar hog. In the civilian world, she wouldn't have been placed in charge of a dumpster. She's probably a four-star admiral by now.

Actually, I'm posting this from the radio studio. That's how boring the show is today. Or I've became jaded.

As you can see by the error below, my post was too big for the Blogger system to handle. So, instead of re-typing it and cutting out the boring parts, I will just say happy Fourth.

I apologize for the dearth of postings over the past few days. I have begun contributing a “this day in history” piece to a website I peruse often and it actually requires me to do a little research every night. But I am and always have been a history geek of sorts, so it’s all in good fun. However, I do not want my aimless ramblings here to suffer, so I will endeavor to do better.


“Faith is going on a journey without knowing the destination.” I saw that on a sign in front of a local church the other day. Our world is full of neat little sayings like that which seek to bundle up the fundamentals for us. But it got me to thinking about my own faith (or lack thereof) and I came to this realization: if I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that, when I died, the mysteries of the world would be explained to me, I would believe in anything you wanted to lay in front of me. Of course, I guess it’s really not faith if you need some sort of ironclad guarantee. And even if I had it, I would probably want more; after all, what if I died and God said, “Hey, Matt, you know what? It’s all a goof. I made the world so that I would have something to do on a Saturday night. No hard feelings, OK?”


The United States will be 227 years old on Friday. That’s a blink of an eye for the world, and not too much time in the span of human memory, either. I may have mentioned this before, but it’s worth repeating: when my father (who is 70) was born, there were still men alive who had fought in the Civil War. Some of the grandfathers of those men were alive when the country began. To be that close to history is, for me, astonishing.