Roberts Confirmed

Judge John Roberts was confirmed today as the United States' 17th Chief Justice of the United States. The vote was 78-22. States whose senators voted unanimously against Judge Roberts include the usual liberal enclaves: California, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York.

Possibly the most damaging nay vote was by Senator Clinton. If she intends on running for president in '08, which is almost a sure thing, it looks foolish for her to vote no on a candidate that many see as moderate, intelligent, and an overall good pick. Her vote slides her farther to the left and alienates some centrist voters who may have thought she was something else.

The Grand Dragon of the Donkeys

Today, Robert Byrd announced his run for re-election to the senate next year. Senator Byrd has served in the senate for over 46 years. In June he will eclipse Strom Thurmond as the record holder for longest tenure in the senate.

Byrd is a democrat, the senior democrat of the senate. Here's where the hypocrisy begins.

In December 2002 then Senate Republican Leader Trent Lott said the following during Thurmond's birthday:

"I want to say this about my state: When Strom Thurmond ran for president, we voted for him. We're proud of it. And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn't have had all these problems over all these years, either."

He was demonized by the democrats and the press as a racist, since Thurmond had advocated segregation. Trent Lott had only said a few words to honor his colleague during his birthday and lost his position. Was what he said that bad? That's for others to decide, but it's certain that the democrats have someone worse on their side.

Mr. Byrd was a member of the Ku Klux Klan.

He joined the KKK around 1941 and was so successful in recruiting members, he was granted the titles of Exalted Cyclops and Kleagle (recruiter). He recruited people into this racist group.

I understand that West Virginia is a lot different from the other 49, but electing someone such as this just demeans the whole state.

Back to the main issue: Trent Lott (who has never done anything overtly racist) was attacked by the left as a racist and almost run out of the senate. Meanwhile, the Democrats support a former KKK member, Robert Byrd?

I urge all of my readers to call the Democrats at 202-863-8000 and tell them to end the hypocrisy and NOT support Robert Byrd in his re-election campaign.

Blame LA

Today Michael Brown, the former head of FEMA, laid down blame on the State of Louisiana and the City of New Orleans for the problems that plagued the evacuation from the city before Hurricane Katrina arrived. As I've thought from the get-go, the true problems were most likely at the local level. As Brown points out, Mississippi and Alabama did not have problems with evacuating, especially since they chose to do so much earlier than the New Orleans area (where it was only made a mandatory order hours before Katrina made landfall). Mayor Nagin of New Orleans dragged his feet for days not knowing what to do. City buses sat empty, instead of ferrying the poor people out of the city. The Superdome, described as a "refuge of last resort" seemed to be the first place they wanted people to go. Responding to critics that say Brown should have done more to get people out of New Orleans, he said,

"I guess you want me to be the superhero that is going to step in there and suddenly take everybody out of New Orleans."

The Governor of Louisiana, Kathleen Blanco, took quite a long time to request federal assistance and also did not declare a state of emergency until it was too late to get the National Guard in before the hurricane struck. It was a coordinated failure by the people who should be in charge during this situation, state and local government. The federal government does not and should not have the power to micro-manage every disaster before or after it happens.

As I've made abundantly clear, if Americans want a federal government who will take care of them from birth until death, micro-managing everything down to the appropriate desk to put in your home office, move to a socialist country. In America, we live in a Federal Republic, meaning that States exist and have a degree of independence. If you would prefer a stronger federal government, move to France.

Sheehan Arrested

Cindy Sheehan, formerly a grieving mother and currently an Iraq War protester was arrested today in Washington DC along with several of her cohorts for "demonstrating without a permit." What kind of a bullshit charge is that? It seems to go against something... something that most American's forget:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."

It seems to me that these people were doing just this. Peaceably assembling and petitioning the government for a redress of grievances. And they were arrested for it.

Choice & Personal Responsiblity

There seems to be a big push for personal responsibility in this country. Politicians frequently say that people should responsible for the choices that they make, but how can this happen when governments make choices for them?

A good example are the recent hurricanes. Though Rita was much less disastrous than Katrina, many people lost their homes during both storms, or were burned to death in a bus. In both cases, although people lost their homes, almost all are being compensated in one way or another by the federal government, in effect removing the responsiblity of the victims. They aren't all victims. Thousands of people chose to not evacuate or were not able to due to lack of reliable transportation. These same people chose to live on a coastal city that is prone to hurricanes. By living in an area like that without the means to leave quickly, they sealed their own fates. They could have prepared by either planning for such a disaster in advance or moving to an area that would not require evacuations from hurricanes.

Now I probably lost most of my readers. You are probably thinking that we shouldn't be so hard on these people, since they are poor, immobile, etc. Everyone is responsible for their own actions. I shouldn't be responsible to bail them out for it. We're going to soon bail out Trent Lott, the Mississippi senator. He lost his beach front house during Hurricane Katrina. Most people would argue that he doesn't deserve the federal aid and I agree. But I go a step further in saying that nobody deserves federal aid, except for people who have been fucked over by the federal government.

And for all of you who were too cheap to give to the Red Cross... don't worry, the federal government has made a non-transparent, non-accountable (i.e. subject to corruption, like the oil for food program), $600 (and climbing) donation to the Hurricane Victims on your behalf. This money will be used for wholesome services like lap-dances. Although, if the federal government gave me free money, I think that would be quite a suitable thing to spend it on...

Back to the main point. If you want personal responsiblity to actually exist, then let it. Don't bail anybody out. Send them a bumper sticker letting them know what happens, and tell them don't come crying because your coastal city got flooded. Build again with your own money or move.

2nd Still Applies in LA

As New Orleans braces for another Hurricane Rita, the citizens can take relief in the fact that they can still protect themselves. Today Judge Jay Zainey granted a motion by the NRA to stop gun confiscation in New Orleans. I wrote earlier about this bullshit taking place in the big easy, the disarmament of civilians empowers criminals and corrupt law enforcement, NEVER A GOOD THING. The police must also return all guns to those who legally owned them. This is a major victory for the country, against the same corrupt idiots who let this whole thing take place. Had New Orleans been run more like a civilized city than like a third world hellhole, this might not have happened in the first place.

The left leaning media hasn't (or won't) publish this yet, so visit www.nra.org for more info.

Should Roberts be confirmed?

In a word, yes.

Judge John Roberts seems to be the best nominee for Supreme Court Justice since Clarence Thomas, the only justice who I can stomach. While I'd rather see Alex Kozinski as a member of SCOTUS, here's why Roberts is a good choice:

Democrats would be foolish to vote against him en masse since he is probably the most neutral person they could expect George W to nominate. Not that he's a bad nominee in any way. His history suggests that he is one of the most intelligent people ever to be nominated for this position and that he strongly regards the Constitution, something that seems to have been put on the back burner lately.

It remains to be seen what his interpretations are of this great document, but at least he refers to it more than a lot of the current justices (Souter, who provided that AWFUL decision Kelo v New London a few months ago, telling homeowners to go fuck themselves).

At any rate, Roberts seems like a standup guy and its all but assured that he will be confirmed. I'll be following him closely and will give all of you the straight dope on his opinions.

No Aid to Black People

Now that racism has been injected into the Hurrican Katrina situation, I'd like to make a comment of my own.

I don't think any federal aid should go to black people.

Wow that must mean I'm a racist.

Not really, I don't believe that federal aid should be given to black people, white people, brown people, or green people.

See, if the government just refused to help anyone, we wouldn't have this race issue even being brought up.

If Kanye West wants to do something positive he should sell some of his bling and donate it to the Red Cross.

Furthermore, why blame Bush, because its easy to blame the white man for everything? What about the failed mayor of New Orleans, who just happens to be black, and was the cause of many more problems in that city than Bush could even think of.

Making a Bad Situation WORSE

If you had already lost your house, your money, all your possessions, and most of your dignity, would you like the police to tell you that you better just spread your legs and let the rapist do his business? That's what's happening in good ole New Orleans. The Washington Post reports that police have begun confiscating LEGALLY owned firearms, to help make the forced evacuation go over easier.

So, the evacuees are most likely at least 75% innocent civilians and the rest criminals to one degree or another. Shouldn't the majority be allowed to defend themselves against crime? Wasn't the 2nd Amendment put into place for EXACTLY these kinds of situations, situations in which there is a defacto lawlessness and it's everyman for himself?

This is simply illegal. You can bet that if they tried to take away my 9mm it would have to be from my COLD DEAD HANDS. I applaud any law abiding New Orleans gun owners who ACTIVELY RESIST this forced disarmament.

Gouging doesn't exist

People are going haywire over the supposed gas-shortage, which most likely is not a shortage at all. Many service stations are scared that their supplies wouldn't come in today and most likely raised prices over the weekend so they could handle a few days with the pumps dry. The problem is when the government steps in to "help", something they always do very poorly. Where I live, in the Commonwealth of Virginia, Governor Mark Warner decided to enforce the states anti price gouging law against a Shell station in my town, Centreville, that was charging $5.80 a gallon on Friday. Charging $5.80 a gallon may seem very high, but the stations down the street were charging $3.49 or so. The shell station was probably trying to hold off demand until after the weekend so they wouldn't run dry. Well, after the government's involvement they were down to $2.85 and dry within a day. They probably lost money in the process.

If people are willing to pay for gas at $5.80, which would be the case for some people that commute (though public transportation is always a substitute), there are probably many people who would not pay that much for gas and choose to use their vehicles more wisely. The bottom line would be that gas would be expensive, but it would be available. As can be seen at that Shell station, when the government forces a price (just like the central planners in Moscow), some companies will choose not to sell at all.

The choice comes down to this. Would you rather have $5 gas available at every station, or a defacto ban on driving more than a day a week if there were indeed shortages? I'll take the $5 gas, because at least then I'd have the choice not to drive instead of the government making the decision for me.

Besides, if the government really cared about gas prices, they would repeal the federal tax of 18.4 cents per gallon. States take in even more, ranging from around 18 cents to over 30 in communist enclaves like NY. Let's take Michigan, State of my birth, as an example. If gas costs $3.00 per gallon, that includes 18.4 cents federal tax plus 19 cents state tax and about .75 cents for "environmental fees." Let's not forget the 6% sales tax either. Taking away all these taxes would have consumers paying $2.46 per gallon. And that's just at the state and federal level. Don't forget the counties and cities that add a few more cents per gallon. Most other regions would have similar results, check out the link in this paragraph to see exactly how much your state bills you.

The Hurricane

Watch out for your pocketbooks, the government is now mobilizing to spend billions of our tax dollars cleaning up after Hurricane Katrina. While I support the numerous charities, such as the Red Cross, I do not support the government spending money to clean this up. The residents of New Orleans chose to live there, on the coast, in an area that is no stranger to bad weather. We should support the people whose lives were affected, but rebuilding the area seems to be an awful waste of money. The poor of New Orleans should think very hard about moving back there. Many of them had little to begin with, relocating to a more prosperous area is probably more feasible than returning home.

We have truly become a welfare society. If something bad happens, we expect the government to bail us out, which goes against our country's core principle: independence. Where charity falls short, insurance doesn't apply, that should simply be lost, not taken from the rest of the country without their consent. I'm sure many Americans, living in a lower tax environment, would gladly donate some of the extra 30% of their income to relief efforts, which generally do a much better job at managing the funds.

Referring to government relief destined for grain farmers facing a drought, one of our greatest presidents, Grover Cleveland remarked that, "Federal aid in such cases encourages the expectation of paternal care on the part of the Government and weakens the sturdiness of our national character...."

I couldn't agree more.

""Marijuana makes darkies think they're as good as white men"."

-Harry Anslinger

The first "drug czar" and the person that introduced the 1937 Marihuana Tax Act, effectively banning the substance. It'd be like banning Courvoisier today...stupid, stupid & stupid.

Drinking on the campaign trail

It is now starting to make the rounds on the internet that Katherine Harris, who supposedly granted her only live interview to Hannity & Colmes on Fox News might have been drunk during the interview. I myself watched the interview last night and found her behavior to be quite bizarre, but did not think much of it until I noticed that Reason had picked up on it. Here's the link to the video.

DEA problems

Regardless of his intentions, I'm glad that Venezuelen President Chavez has thrown the Drug Enforcement Administration out of his country. This division of the Department Of Justice is one of the most brutal and unnecessary components of the US Government. The so called "drug war" can never be won, and is attack on free will. If someone wants to do drugs, that is their business and not the governments. Drug laws are racist in nature, they were mostly used to screw over Mexicans, blacks, and other groups that the US government did not like. Eventually they went after the whites too with prohibition, but as we all know, that was later appealed. I hope that other world governments stop helping the USA with this expensive hobby. Let people make their own choices. Some may choose drugs, most will not. Either way, it will save taxpayers BILLIONS per year.

What a game!

What a game for the Nats tonight. John Patterson had a career high 13 streakouts, 0 walks, and his first complete game and first shutout. And Brad Wilkerson (who has the 2nd most strikeouts in the league) had 0 strike outs tonight and the NATS FIRST GRANDSLAM. The final score was 7-0. If only every game went like this...